Desperate Times for a Manipulating Mind
by JJCM
Summary: A man's sister goes missing and he will stop at nothing to bring her back. JJ struggles to keep him in check while the team tries to solve the case in time.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Here's my next story. It's a case-fic involving the entire team, though JJ plays a slightly larger role than most of the characters. No pairings, on this one. Updates should be frequent as the story is almost finished, then I should be getting back to JJ/Reid stories again. This is just something a little different I wanted to try, an attempt at writing an episode, kind of. Please Review!**

**Warnings: Violence, a few bad words and potential adult themes. Going to try hard to keep this at T.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. Any other characters I created and are purely fictional.**

"Portland, Oregon. Someone is abducting and killing young men and women in the area." JJ began her presentation to the team.

"So far four victims have been found and a fifth one, a woman named Christina Edwards, went missing last night. From what the local police can discern so far, our unsub abducts them, tortures them, and then dumps their bodies within three to four days of their abductions." JJ continued.

"No signs of sexual assault, all of his victims are between twenty-five and thirty-two, so we know he has a specific age range and his methods are purely sadistic." Emily commented as she read the file.

"He obviously performs various forms of physical torture on his victims, as evidenced by the various burns, bruises and markings on the bodies. He may use psychological forms of torture as well, although that would be harder to figure out with what we know so far." Spencer said.

"Do any of the victims have connections to each other?" Hotchner asked.

"I've begun to search through all of the victim's personal information, but nothing has turned up so far, sir." Garcia responded.

"We do know that they are all in a pretty focused geographical area. All of the victims live within a twenty mile radius of each other either in Portland, or its' surrounding suburbs. While it is still a lot of ground to cover, it would suggest that our suspect is a local." Spencer added.

"So we know he is going after young, fit, white men and women, torturing them, and dumping they're bodies. Now we have to figure out why?" Morgan summed up.

"That's the big question. What we do know is we have about three days until he kills Christina Edwards." Rossi said, staring at the picture of the brown-haired woman on the screen.

"Wheels up in thirty." Hotchner said, queuing the team to gather their things.

/

Christina Edwards slowly awoke to a pounding headache.

The last thing she could remember was dropping her five year old son Aiden off at a friend's house for a play date so she could go out on her blind date.

As far as she could remember she never made it to that date. She had arrived home, changed clothes, and was on her way to her car when something hard hit her on the head. That was all she could remember, everything else was blank.

Now she found herself laying on a hard wood floor, her hands tied behind her back and her ankles bound together.

Christina tried to force herself to roll over so she could get in a better position to sit up. She regretted having moved as soon as she tried, her head pounded more and her vision was blurry. She wanted to call out for help in the empty-sounding house, but she still wasn't sure of her situation and she didn't want to invite danger; that would only make things worse.

Slowly, Christina was able to crawl to the nearest wall, and lean against it. She was exhausted from this simple action and closed her eyes, praying that it would also help ease her headache.

She was so scared. And she was worried about Aiden. She had no idea if he was ok, although she hoped and assumed he was, no idea where she was, or what time it was. All she did know was she was not in a pleasant situation.

/

It had been a long plane ride, flying cross country always was even on a private plane, and it had left the team a little tired. The only positive to such a long flight was it gave the team plenty of time to consider the unsub's motive, and for Garcia to do some digging. Unfortunately, they had little information to go on so far, so most ideas were rather speculative.

The team left the plane and were met by a local police officer who took them to the station. The drive was brief as the team peppered the officer with questions about the area to get a better idea of the local environment. The driver pulled up to the station and the team entered the building led by Hotchner and JJ.

"You must be the FBI. I'm Detective Robert Harlan." The man greeted the team as soon as he saw them.

He was an older man of approximately fifty. He was about five feet-ten inches tall, and he still appeared to be physically fit. Harlan had graying, thinning hair, and his eyes looked hardened as if he had seen a lot in his years on the force, giving him an air of toughness about him.

"Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone." JJ shook the man's hand before introducing the rest of the team as they exchanged pleasantries.

"Thank you for coming. As you know the clock is ticking before whoever is doing this kills again, so we are all a little tense around here." Harlan explained as he led them to the area he had cleared for them to set up and operate from.

"Of course, that is understandable." Emily replied as they now found themselves standing in the far corner of the precinct.

"How is the pressure from the locals? Any press?" JJ asked as they began to set up.

"So far not really. Thankfully we have been able to keep things pretty well under wraps, although the longer this goes on the harder that is going to be. I have the latest victim, Christina Edwards' brother in the other room. He has been pushing us to do more and he wants to know every detail of what we are doing to help his sister. He's been a little challenging to deal with." Harlan said as he watched them.

"Does he know anything? Was he the person who reported his sister's abduction?" Rossi asked.

"No he wasn't. One of Christina Edwards' friends, Tracy Bruin, reported her abduction when she didn't show up to Ms. Bruin's house like she was supposed to. I had one of my men interview Mr. Edwards, but he doesn't appear to have any information. He just seems very protective and concerned about his sister, as you would expect."

"That's pretty understandable, all things considered." Emily said as Hotchner nodded.

"JJ, why don't you go talk to him. Try to calm him down and see if there is anything he can tell us that would be helpful." Hotchner said as JJ met his eyes.

"Of course, keep me updated." JJ said as she walked towards the room Harlan had pointed to.

"So where do you guys start?" Harlan asked.

"Well so far we know the unsub has a specific type, and he gets off by torturing his victims. We can assume he kills them once he gets bored with them or they have served their purpose to him. The question we have to ask is why?" Spencer said.

"We have to ask if any of the victims have anything in common, which they appear not to. This means we have to dig deeper until we find the common link between them. Maybe they all wronged him somehow, only they don't know it. Or maybe he is jealous of them for something they have that he doesn't." Rossi explained.

"Such as?"

"It's hard to say. Even what can be perceived as something small to you or me, could be considered something big to this unsub, and act as a trigger for his actions." Morgan chimed in.

"So where do we start?"

"We looked over your files on the plane so we do have some basic parameters, we know the guy is local." Emily said.

"Now, we have to go back and look for details. We have to dig deep into the victims lives, which means interviewing their friends and family, and going through their personal spending habits and daily routines; they all have something in common to this unsub, we just have to find it." Hotchner said.

"We also need to check out where he dumps the bodies, especially the most recent dumpsite." Morgan added.

"Prentiss, you and Rossi will begin interviewing the families. Morgan, Reid and I will go to the last dumpsite and look for clues." Hotchner directed as everyone nodded in agreement.

They had a lot of work ahead, and three days at the most until another body turned up.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you for the reviews and interest in this story! Please bear with me as I'm sure the beginning of this story might seem a little slow. I'm trying to be as detailed and thorough as I can. Next chapter should be up in a day or two.**

JJ walked confidently to the room where Christina Edwards' brother was waiting. She knew that situations like this were very emotional, especially for family members, which always made talking to and consoling them a bit dicey. It was part of the job though, and it was something JJ was very good at.

She was a compassionate person, and showing compassion and empathy in situations like these generally helped to diffuse some stress and tension. If she could do that, then the family would likely see things more from the profilers' side; that they were truly there to help. Once the family realized that she understood their plight, their emotions, their fears, they would have more confidence in her and the team, and they would be less defensive and more helpful.

It was a tricky cycle, but it all came back to psychology and understanding human emotion. It really was no different from the game she played with the press; the only difference was that talking to family was always on a more personal level.

Personally for JJ, although it was generally more challenging to talk to family, she also found it much more rewarding, especially when the team was successful. The press was generally focused on getting the story and beating each other for ratings and the next big scoop. The families usually only cared about getting their loved ones back, and showed their appreciation when the team did just that. To JJ, that was easily the best part of the job, just as failing the families and letting them down was the worst.

They were not going to fail, not this time. JJ was convinced of this as she reached for the door knob, now she just had to convince Christina Edwards' brother.

/

Hotchner, Morgan, Reid and Harlan arrived at the creek where the most recent body had been found. It was a rather woodsy and secluded area about ten miles from the precinct and a couple of miles outside of the city itself. As the team stepped out of their SUV they immediately began to analyze the area.

"This is a perfect place to dump the body. There's less foot traffic making it less likely the body will be found quickly, and obviously he wouldn't have to worry about being caught on any type of camera." Spencer remarked as they walked around.

"Who found the body?" Morgan asked.

"A couple of nature walkers found Alex Arivous early this morning, the call came in around six-thirty. It is actually fairly common for people to walk around through here. There aren't a lot of 'official' paths if you will, but people around here love to spend time outside." Harlan told them.

"So he picks an area that is kind of secluded, but not overly so. He wants the bodies to be found, he just doesn't want to be seen." Spencer remarked.

"He likely dumps the bodies at night too, so he decreases his odds more so." Hotchner added.

"Was the body actually in the creek?" Morgan asked as they walked through the still cautioned-off area of trees and brush on the edge of the creek.

"No, it wasn't. Alex's body also wasn't covered or buried, it was simply left out at the edge of the creek. He was pretty easy to spot once you saw him."

"Maybe he dumped the body quickly? He certainly didn't put much effort into disposing the body that is for sure. There is minimal brush in this particular spot and it's only a hundred feet or so from the drive path. And it's on a downhill slope making it easier to drag the body." Spencer said noting how some of the leaves and brush had been disturbed, suggesting the unsub had indeed dragged the body.

"Do you think he was just being lazy?"

"Perhaps, but not likely. He does these things for a reason. How big was Alex, Detective Harlan?" Spencer asked.

"Uh, five foot-seven, one-eighty-five if I remember correctly."

"What about the other male victim, Rodney Brandt?"

"Five foot-six, one-sixty-five"

"What are you thinking Reid?" asked Hotchner.

"Well from what we know from the case files he's been dumping these bodies in the woods, but not far from the woods, isn't that correct Detective?"

"It is. All the bodies have been found in similar situations, similar terrains as this one was found."

"I'm wondering if maybe our unsub has a physical ailment, Hotch. He chooses men and women all shorter than six feet tall, and all lighter than two hundred pounds. He may have once been in good shape or might still be in overall ok shape, but something hinders him. It would explain why he drags the bodies and doesn't make much of an effort to hide them. It's too much effort." Spencer explained.

"The unsub could be a woman, Reid." Morgan countered.

"Perhaps, it is possible…" Spencer pondered.

"There was a lot of physical violence inflicted on the victims; bruises, broken bones. That would be a lot for a woman to do, wouldn't it?" Harlan asked.

"Probably, although if it were a woman she could use tools to help her inflict pain." Spencer said.

"You said in your report that the local ME's thought most of the violence was done by hand is that correct?" Hotchner turned to Harlan.

"They told me it was hard to tell for some of it. He obviously uses his hands and feet to beat them up initially from what they could tell. But for the various broken bones the different victims sustained, fingers, toes, arms, legs, ribs, it could be anything."

"So we can't know for sure, we just know that it would take a good amount of force regardless." Morgan said.

"Whoever our unsub is probably uses something to assist them as the torture intensifies, most do." Spencer chimed in.

"Ok, so right now, given what we know so far, who do you think we're looking for?" Harlan asked.

"My bet would be either it's a man who is in pretty good shape but has some sort of malady that restricts him physically, or as Morgan said maybe a woman although I think that is less likely." Spencer answered.

"Do you agree with him?" Harlan nodded at Morgan.

"I've learned that whatever Reid says is usually pretty spot on, if that's what he thinks then I would have to agree." He chuckled.

"Ok, let's head back and put what we know to work." Hotchner said as they slowly walked away from the creek.

/

Cole Edwards had been pacing the room for what seemed like an eternity. The police officer he had spoken with had agreed to let him stick around for a while, but only if he stayed out of their way. That was becoming an increasingly hard thing for him to do as he paced around the room nervously, his thoughts wandering to where his sister could be and what could possibly be happening to her.

Growing up he had done all he could to try and protect her. They were only a year and a half apart in age and seeing as Cole was the older of the two, he was always looking out for her.

They had been very close as they progressed through childhood. They both shared similar friends, went through similar trials and helped each other out of tough situations.

Cole loved his sister more than anything. He would never forget the time she broke her leg when they had gotten to playing a little too roughly outside; it had broken his heart to hear her cry, especially because it was his fault. She never blamed him though. And when he broke his arm playing football one year in high school, Christina was the first one to help him and encourage him to get healthy and return to playing even if he felt a little timid. They fed off each other, they were an unstoppable team.

If there was one major regret in Cole's life, it was going away to college and moving away from her. Sure she had encouraged him and they both knew it was the right decision, but that's when her life had changed forever, and he couldn't stop it.

Christina had met Frank while Cole was a sophomore in college, things became serious too quick, and before anyone knew it Christina was pregnant. When Cole found out, he had wanted to kick the shit out of Frank, but Christina had talked him down, telling him they were both happy and that he should be too. So Cole let it slide.

Then the verbal arguments started and Frank bailed shortly after Christina had the baby. Cole couldn't believe it, he was livid. He was glad Frank was gone, his sister was too good for him, but if he ever saw that guy again he was going to make him pay. What he did to Christina and Aiden wasn't fair. And although Christina loved her son and she was generally happy, her life was never going to be the same; she would never have a chance to reach her full potential.

Cole had tried to do it for her, to make her proud, to help provide for her and Aiden, but then his business went south and before he knew it, he was living in her house.

In some ways it felt like old times, living together. He felt bad he didn't have his own place, but at least he could watch Aiden for her while she worked, and they got to see more of each other. They were helping each other, trying to get on their feet together. And now this happened.

He came home, thinking nothing that Christina's car was still in the yard until Tracy called. It broke his heart. He cried, and then became angry. Whoever it was that took his sister was going to pay, he would personally see to it. He just didn't know how yet. He felt hopeless, he felt like he should be doing more.

Further, he wasn't sure that the police were doing enough. It angered him to look around the precinct and see so many officers simply sitting at their desks. He had been told that they had everything under control and that the FBI was on its way to help, but that did little to ease his skepticism. He wanted to take matters into his own hands, but he didn't know what he could do or where he should start.

He was a smart man; he had always been the bright one in the family. Even if he had fallen on hard times recently because of the poor economy, and he had been forced to move into his sister's house for a while, it was only a matter of time before he bounced back. It wasn't Cole's fault that his business partner had made bad choices that had sent their start-up business into bankruptcy.

No, it was his fault that he had chosen who he had for a business partner. He knew he would bounce back, he was confident in it. He had many innovative ideas, he still possessed some connections, and he had a way of influencing decisions and getting what he wanted.

It also didn't hurt that he was still young, twenty-eight, and good-looking. He loved to exercise, it helped him focus, and good looks were the key to confidence which breeds success. Those were words he lived by.

But now, as he continued to pace, he was out of ideas and he was scared for his sister who he loved to death. He would do anything for her. He would get her back.

/

Prentiss and Rossi had begun the tedious process of interviewing friends and family. The first people they met with were the parents of Alex Arivous.

"Mr. and Ms. Arivous thank you for coming in and meeting with us." Emily started as they all shook hands.

"Anything to help catch the bastard that killed our son." Mr. Arivous answered.

"Of course, we're doing all that we can to make sure that happens. We called you here to try to find out more about Alex. Specifically, we want to know about his activities, his daily patterns, any friends or enemies he may have; anything that may help us find who is doing this." Emily said softly.

"Alex was always a pretty average kid. He got decent grades, he played soccer and basketball for fun, he had friends but wasn't overly popular. He was just your average kid growing up." Ms. Arivous said.

"What about the last few years? Did anything change?" Rossi asked.

"No, not really. He was born and raised here; we have a lot of family in the area. He went to the local community college after high school, remained active, continued dating." Ms. Arivous shrugged.

"How was his relationship with you, were you all close? Would he keep secrets?" Emily asked.

"We were all pretty close. He went through the typical phase during his teenage years, but I would take him fishing or out to sporting events to keep him close and get him to open up to me. We never had any major problems to speak of. He got in trouble for drinking one time, but he learned from it and it was never a problem again." Mr. Arivous answered as he thought back.

Prentiss and Rossi shared a look.

This wasn't going to be easy, Alex seemed very average for sure. If what everything they were hearing was true, then it was quite possible that he could've been targeted at random, making it harder for them to find the unsub. They had to try to dig deeper with the Arivous'.

"What about the last few months? Was he holding a steady job? Did he live with you? What did he do during his free time, what were his hobbies?" Rossi pressed.

"He moved out about a year ago, he has an apartment about four miles from us and he would still come and visit us often. He was working a marketing job downtown. The job wasn't overly demanding, but it was decent pay and he seemed to enjoy it." Mr. Arivous answered.

"On weekends he would play in a recreational basketball league, and as far as I know he was still going to the gym three or four times a week. Exercising was his hobby. He was handsome and confident, he just started a new relationship with his girlfriend Sara and it seemed to be going very well for both of them." Ms. Arivous added.

"How is Sara doing?" Emily asked.

"She's pretty distraught as you would imagine. The police interviewed her and cleared her, and we would never suspect her to begin with, she's such a sweetheart. She flew back to Colorado yesterday to be with her family, I can't blame her." Ms. Arivous sniffled as she wiped her eyes with a tissue.

"Is there anything else you can think of that would help us? Any confrontations Alex might have had recently?" Rossi asked.

"No, nothing like that. Alex wasn't the type to be confrontational and if he had a problem, he would tell us. He was a great guy." Mr. Arivous choked up a little.

"It certainly sounds like he was. Again, I'm sorry for your loss." Emily reached over to console them both.

She then looked back at Rossi and he nodded.

"I think we're done, thank you again. If there is anything you need, or if there is anything else you remember, please don't hesitate to come to us." Emily offered as they all stood.

"Thank you." Alex's parents said in unison as they all stepped out of the room. As Rossi and Prentiss watched them leave they turned to each other.

"What do you think Dave?"

"I think we're going to have to keep the interviews going until we can hopefully establish a pattern. They're good people, but that wasn't overly helpful, nothing blatantly stood out as a red flag."

"Yeah, I didn't notice anything either." Emily sighed as an officer walked up to them.

"Rodney Brandt's parents just arrived. I had them seated in room 12 for you." The young man said.

"Ok, thank you." Emily nodded, looking to Rossi as they prepared to go into the next interview.


	3. Chapter 3

JJ turned the knob and entered the interview room as she had done a hundred times before. When she met the eyes of Christina Edwards' brother she froze. He was drop dead handsome and she hadn't expected it. He was about six foot-two, and in good physical shape. He had short cropped dirty-blond hair and obviously had a sense of style as evidenced by the clothes he was wearing.

What threw JJ off the most however, were his confident, piercing, deep blue eyes. They were some of the best looking eyes she had ever seen and for a moment, JJ forgot where she was or why she was there. She felt her face flush a little when she realized she was staring at him awkwardly, and quickly she tried to regroup herself.

"Hi, I'm Jennifer Jareau, I'm with the FBI." She walked over and smiled after she had closed the door behind her.

"Cole Edwards." He charmingly returned her smile as he gently shook her hand.

JJ told herself it was a normal handshake, something she did a hundred times a day, but she couldn't help to feel different and she wondered if it had been her imagination when she thought she felt one of his fingers lightly stroke her palm. She sat down and Cole did the same, sitting across from her at the table.

"Mr. Edwards-"

"Please, call me Cole." He said gently, a smile crossing his lips as their eyes met.

JJ shifted, trying not to feel as awkward as she suddenly felt. She had butterflies and she scolded herself to remain professional, to compartmentalize.

"Ok, Cole, first I would like to start by saying I am sorry about your sister. I want you to know that we are doing everything we can to bring her back safely as soon as possible." She looked at him and he simply nodded, knowing this was merely her standard line.

"I'm here to find out as much as I can about Christina, and you, so we can try to find her and figure out who would want to take her." JJ said, still unnerved by his gorgeous eyes every time she looked at him.

Cole paused for a moment, realizing she was queuing him to start talking.

"Ok Ms. Jareau-" he began as he sat up more straight.

"I live with my sister Christina; I have for three months now ever since my business went bankrupt as a result of bad choices made by my business partner." He took a breath as JJ nodded for him to continue.

"She's a single parent who works standard hours at a local bank. Her son, my nephew, is named Aiden and he's five years old. I've been helping to raise Aiden while my sister works and while I try to get my next start-up company going. Aiden's father, Frank, left shortly after he was born and we haven't seen or heard from him since." He said, his eyes again meeting Agent Jareau's.

She returned an understanding, compassionate smile.

"How did things with Frank end? Were they contentious? Is he someone we should consider a suspect?"

"I don't think so. He had some issues with drinking, and he and Christina would get into verbal fights sometimes, but it was his decision to leave and when he did, Christina pretty much said 'good riddance'. She was getting tired of him and his antics. I'm pretty sure he would never hurt Christina or Aiden though, he was never really violent."

"Ok. We'll look into him anyway, just in case." JJ said as she wrote down some more notes.

"Don't you think that could be a waste of time? I just told you he's not a likely suspect. My sister doesn't have time for you guys to be chasing false leads." Cole said, becoming defensive.

"We're not going to focus on Frank. I agree, he doesn't really sound like a suspect. We just want to cover all the bases just in case there is something there. We don't have time for surprises either." JJ explained.

Cole nodded, accepting her explanation for now.

"What does Christina do in her free time, does she have any hobbies?"

Cole smirked a little.

"She doesn't really have time for hobbies; she spends most of her time working and taking care of Aiden. She does go to the gym occasionally, but she doesn't have a membership because she doesn't go consistent enough. She's been going a little more frequently now that she's single."

"Do you know the name of the gym she goes to?"

"The same gym I go to, Running Success."

JJ nodded, listening as she made note of the gym.

"Can you tell me about last night? Where you were, where Aiden was, what Christina's plans were?"

"Christina dropped Aiden off at her friend Tracy's house for a play date. Christina had a blind date after work that she was excited for."

"Does she usually go on blind dates?"

"Only recently, she just recently decided it was time for her to try to find a man again. She doesn't want to put the pressure on me of having to be the man in Aiden's life, although I would if that's what they both needed." He smiled a little, his eyes distant. JJ watched him drift deep into thought for a moment.

"Do you know where she was supposed to go with her date?"

"She told me she was going on a date and wouldn't be home until later. She was supposed to meet the guy at a restaurant called Bobby Bistro's but obviously she never made it there."

"Her car was still in the yard I take it you're saying?"

"Yeah, and nobody was supposed to come by to pick her up, she didn't want strangers knowing where she lived for obvious reasons. Like I told the police, she had to have been abducted from the yard."

"The police found no evidence of anything from what I've been told. Her door was locked, her car was as well. No traces of fingerprints on the car besides her own. She has a stone walkway so if he did take her he probably walked on the walkway to avoid footprints." JJ surmised.

"Her purse, her keys were missing." Cole added.

"That's correct, and they still haven't been found. And you don't have any security around the house correct? No alarms, no cameras?"

"Yeah that's correct. Listen, I'm trying to be nice here but I've already been over these things with the police, you're wasting valuable time." Cole raised his voice a little.

JJ looked at him apologetically.

"I know, I just have to corroborate your story for our sake. Sometimes the police can miss things or you might remember something that you previously forgot to mention. I promise, the rest of my team is in the field looking for your sister and reviewing evidence as we speak."

"So what, you drew the short straw and had to come interview me?" he chuckled a little.

JJ chuckled back.

"Hardly, this is part of my job. I'm the primary go between for my team and the families, as well as the police and the media, my official title is a _liaison_." JJ explained drawing a smile from Cole.

"I see, so you're actually somebody important then." He teased.

"Yeah you could say that. I guess the moral of the story is you shouldn't piss me off, especially if you want my help." JJ smiled.

"I wouldn't dream of it. I'm just anxious, and nervous. I want my sister back."

"I understand, really, I do. I've been through this type of thing with countless families and it doesn't get any easier."

"So what's your advice then?"

"I know it's hard, but just stay out of our way and let us do our job. My team is one of the best. If you want to help, just provide us with whatever you can that will help us find your sister. The smallest of details sometimes turn out to be the most important."

Cole pondered what she had said, then nodded.

"I think I told you just about everything, I haven't noticed anything or anyone suspicious around the house and Christina never mentioned anything."

"Ok." JJ stopped for a minute, looking over her notes and making sure she hadn't forgotten to ask anything. When she looked back up, she caught him looking at her. JJ tried to push the butterflies back down and continue.

"Uh, one thing, where were you last night again, I don't remember your answer."

"Come on Ms. Jareau, really?"

"I told you, I'm just trying to cover everything. I have plenty of time, my team is still out."

Cole gave her a look that told her he was getting annoyed, but answered.

"I was at Running Success. Like I said Christina was going out and she had someone to watch Aiden. My friend Damon was there with me. I told the police this as well. They called Damon, and they confirmed it. If you need to check the security cameras at the gym you can do that too. I would never hurt my sister."

"Ok, ok. I didn't mean to offend you I just…"

"I know you're covering everything." He said, frustrated.

JJ looked at him sympathetically.

"Well I think we're done for now, if you need anything let me know." She said as she started to organize her notes.

"Is that part of your job too?" he sort of sneered at her. JJ was taken a back a little but still smiled.

"Yes it is. I'm here to help you through this any way I can. If you decide to stick around I'll do my best to give you updates, but we really can't have you interfering while we're working. We're on a time crunch as you know."

"So if I need anything just find you?"

"Yes." JJ nodded in confirmation. She was about to stand when he asked another question.

"Is your team back yet?"

JJ looked at him, a little confused.

"Uh, I don't think so, should be soon, why?"

"How about you keep me company for a few more minutes then, I like to know who I'm dealing with." He looked at her confidently.

JJ was a little surprised by this, but she quickly gathered herself and sat back down.

"Ok, what do you want to know?"

"I want to know more about your team, and you."

"Sure, go ahead."

"How good is your team, really?"

"We're one of the best. We take the biggest cases and have helped stop some of the most notorious serial killers. We've all worked together for years now and we work very efficiently, if there's a time crunch, people call us. We're usually the first team called."

"And you're being honest about this?"

"Of course, I'm not just saying this to make you feel better, I promise."

"So how does this work, how do you catch these guys?"

"We try to get inside their minds, as dark as that sounds. We start by figuring out victimology, why this victim at this time in this place, and use that to help us set up motive. We then use the patterns and evidence we find and use the unsub's own mind against him essentially. That's usually how we catch them."

"Impressive." Cole smiled.

"So how long have you been doing this for?"

"About five years now."

"Really? Wow, you must really like what you do, despite the danger."

JJ chuckled.

"Generally I'm not in too much danger. Like I basically told you before, I don't really go into the field much; I work more with the media and families. And yes, I love what I do. It can be challenging and stressful, a lot of long hours, but there's no better feeling than catching the bad guys and reuniting the victims with their families."

"I can tell, you have a good heart."

JJ felt herself blush a little.

"What makes you say that?"

"I can just tell that about you, it shows through especially when you were interviewing me and I mentioned Aiden." He smiled looking down at her hand.

"You're not married I take it. Does that also mean you don't have kids?"

JJ followed his glance down at her bare hand where a wedding ring would be. Damn, he was good.

"That's, uh, correct." JJ felt a little uncomfortable and Cole could tell.

"The long hours must make it hard on the personal life. That's ok, someday you'll have kids, I know you have a soft spot for them." He smiled as JJ continued to be somewhat impressed.

"Someday, probably yes. But not right now."

"You'll find someone to settle down with, you're too pretty not to." Cole commented.

There was an awkward silence.

Finally JJ began to stand.

"I think my team is back, I should go meet them."

Cole stood with her.

"I'm sorry Ms. Jareau, I didn't mean to cross the line or make you feel uncomfortable." He said meeting her eyes.

"Don't worry, you didn't." JJ said unconvincingly.

"And please, call me JJ." She said as she pushed her chair in and grabbed her things.

"JJ? Where'd you get that name from?"

"That's what my friends call me. It's my initials, it just works better." JJ said with a shrug.

"So we're friends now?" Cole questioned as JJ tried to suppress her feelings again. He wasn't making this easy for her that was for sure.

"Sure. I don't see why we wouldn't be right now. I'm here to help you and unless there is something I don't know about you yet, you're certainly not a suspect." She said, moving towards the door as he moved closer.

"Fair enough. If we are _friends _like you say we are however, I would prefer to call you _Jennifer_. It suites you better and sounds a bit more feminine."

JJ looked up at him as he was now standing right beside her. The way he looked at her and said her name almost sent a shudder through her body.

"Uh, ok, whatever works for you." She said quietly, forcing herself to smile before getting out of the room as fast as she could.

She didn't know what it was about Cole Edwards, but he exuded sexiness and confidence. JJ knew she had to remain professional and be careful around him or else it would be a long case.

/

Cole chuckled to himself as he walked over to the coffee station and poured himself a coffee. The way he had made Jennifer rush from the room left him amused and confident; it had been fun to watch her squirm a little, especially after all the questions she had asked.

The minute she had walked in he was unexpectedly taken aback. She was beautiful and he had been expecting some old hack, or at least a guy. She had been a pleasant surprise and the information she had given him had been helpful. She was going to be a big help if he played his cards right.

He had to get his sister back and he would do anything to make it happen. Before Jennifer had entered the room he felt like he was at the mercy of the incompetent police. But now he had some options.

Jennifer had convinced him that her team was one of the best, and he certainly prayed for his sister's sake that she was right. The day was almost over and as far as he could tell, little actual progress had been made in finding her. If there was one thing Cole was it was impatient. If more than another day went by and there was still no progress, he would have to do something; he didn't know what, but something.

Jennifer on the other hand was going to be a joy to work with. He could tell the moment she walked in that she was attracted to his good looks, and their conversation had gone well. She was smart, beautiful, and single, a tough thing to find these days.

No, he wasn't going to do anything stupid. But he certainly wasn't going to get tired of looking at her nice, tight little body either. If he had run into her and the circumstances had been different then sure, he would pursue that. But right now that wasn't an option in his mind.

No, he was going to sit back for a little, see what progress was made, and if he wasn't satisfied, then he would put Jennifer to work for him. All he had to do was convince her that enough wasn't being done for his sister; that they had to try harder. He was confident that if needed, he could do that. After all, Cole always got what he wanted.

/

Christina had fallen asleep against the wall, waking to the sound of a door closing. As she filtered the cobwebs from her brain she realized she was no longer alone in the house she was being held in. She knew it was a house as although it was getting dark and the curtains were closed, she had been able to scan the room and infer that she was indeed in a house.

The room itself that she was in wasn't anything spectacular. It was a small room that looked like a study room in progress, with its minimal furniture and books. She was leaning against the bare wall farthest from the curtain covered window and to the side of the door.

Christina could hear footsteps approaching as they first climbed a set of stairs then came down a hallway towards the room she was in. Her heart began to beat faster, her breath caught in her lungs with nervousness. Her headache had subsided substantially and she could now think more clearly, but she wasn't sure if that was really such a good thing. She hadn't made up her mind when the door knob turned and the door slowly opened.

The dark figure scanned the room until its eyes landed on its prey.

"Oh, I see you're finally awake. It's about time; I have a lot in store for you." The voice chuckled as it approached her.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Warnings for violence and some language**

The team all gathered back together at their set up station. Rossi and Prentiss had finished interviewing Rodney Brandt's parents with similar results. He had been a little bit more of a trouble maker than Alex Arivous, and he wasn't as close to his parents as Alex was either, but he was still relatively normal as well. He had a steady job, lived on his own, and stayed active both athletically and within the community. As the team stood around the table it was time to compare notes.

"What did you two find out from the families?" Hotchner asked as he looked at Prentiss and Rossi.

"Both Alex Arivous and Rodney Brandt were pretty average. They had jobs, lived on their own, had good relationships with friends and family, and stayed active." Emily summarized.

"Nothing stood out about them at all?" Morgan asked.

"No, not really. They were both what you would describe as 'normal'. They didn't have any known enemies, at least not enemy enough to have motive to kill them."

"And they didn't know each other? They didn't run into each other somewhere or have similar interests?" Spencer asked.

"Again, not really. Both families named exercising as their biggest hobby outside of the routine of work, friends and family." Emily shook her head.

"Christina's brother Cole said she liked to exercise too." JJ spoke up, grabbing their attention a little.

"He said she didn't have a membership but she went occasionally and had begun going more frequently of late as she began to date again. I know exercising is a pretty popular thing these days so it could be a stretch." JJ trailed off.

"It's still worth looking into, especially since we're having so much trouble connecting the dots so far. Do you know what the names of the gyms were that they went to?" Hotchner asked.

Prentiss and Rossi shook their heads in the negative as JJ wracked her brain for what Cole had said.

"Uh, Running Success. Cole goes there too." She said once she had checked her notes.

"And he hasn't noticed anything suspicious?" Hotchner questioned.

"Uh, I don't think so. I didn't really ask him but he said he was there with a friend named Damon during the time of Christina's abduction. The police have already looked into it and his alibi checks out."

"We should have Garcia check into the personal records of all of the victims, see if they have gym memberships and if so to which fitness centers, see if there is any correlation." Spencer said.

"Agreed, Morgan give her a call when we're done. Hopefully she will have results by the morning and if she doesn't we'll ask their families and friends. As JJ said it could be nothing, but it is worth pursuing." Hotchner said as the others nodded.

"Did you find anything helpful at the dumpsite?" asked Rossi.

"Maybe, maybe not. Our unsub dumps bodies in the woods, but he leaves them in the open and gives minimal effort to hide them. He likely dumps them in the woods and at night so as to not be seen." Morgan said.

"We know that he drags the bodies and he or she may be limited physically as evidenced by the size of the people he abducts. With that said the unsub still has to be in pretty good shape to be taking people who are physically fit, unless he uses some type of drug to subdue them." Spencer continued.

"I thought the medical examiner said there were no signs of drugs in the victims systems?" JJ asked.

"I agree, it says here no traces of any abnormal drugs or narcotics." Emily added as she flipped through the report.

"So this guy is taking young, healthy, good looking people and killing them either out of jealousy or rage." Rossi looked at the team.

"And it is done potentially because he feels deficient or subservient because he is physically limited or not as good looking. They are an outcast on society." Emily finished.

"Unless the unsub is a woman as Morgan mentioned before. The motive could still be the same even if this is the case, although I would be more skeptical of that. We could be completely on the wrong track and we could be following a dead end." Spencer thought out loud as some members of the team groaned.

"We'll run with what we have right now. It's getting late so we'll head to the hotel and start fresh in the morning. Morgan will call Garcia about the gym memberships, Prentiss and Rossi will interview the other two families so that we're thorough. JJ you will continue to work here, make sure the media is still in the dark and nobody here at the precinct spills anything. We don't want to alert the unsub that we're here yet." Hotchner directed as the team listened intently.

Once everybody was clear on their tasks the team packed up their things while Morgan called Garcia to do the search. The team began to head for the door, as they were more than ready to get some sleep and start the next day off fresh. Hotchner and JJ hung back for a moment to talk with Detective Harlan. As Hotchner briefed Harlan on their plan, JJ saw Cole leaving the lounge room he had been in. His eyes caught hers and he gave her a questioning look. JJ excused herself and walked over to him.

"Where are you all going?" he asked sternly.

"We're calling it a night. We need to get some sleep so we can think and be refreshed for tomorrow." JJ explained.

"You're done? Just like that? What if Christina doesn't have that kind of time? He could be hurting her right now while you are sleeping!" Cole raised his voice as he became more agitated and incredulous.

"Cole, I promise we'll be back first thing in the morning to continue. We just flew cross-country and spent the last seven hours gathering evidence and information. If we don't sleep a little we won't think clear and we could miss something. You should go home and get your rest as well." JJ tried to comfort.

"I can't sleep while she's out there missing. My head won't stop coming up with all the things she could be going through. I can't believe you're calling it a night already!" he began to pace as Hotchner looked to JJ to see if she needed his assistance. JJ caught this, nodding to Hotch that she had it under control.

"Cole, listen, I promise we'll be back tomorrow and we'll continue to work our leads and do everything we can to find Christina. But if you want to stay here and if you want me to continue to update you, then you have to calm down and trust me. Understand?" JJ said as she put her hand supportively on his shoulder.

Cole glared at her, his mind considering the options she had laid out in front of him.

"Yeah, I understand." He relented quietly.

"Please, try to get some sleep." JJ patted his shoulder one more time before she walked away, leaving the precinct with Hotch.

Cole watched intently as she walked away, his blood still boiling. He was going to have to do something. He couldn't believe the FBI was calling it a night already. His sister had just lost a full day of whatever time left that she had to live, time was short. Maybe he was wrong to trust in the FBI. He was nervous, anxious again. It was time to get their attention a little, to help make them realize that people truly were depending on them to get Christina back safely, and that time was precious.

/

Christina screamed as her kidnapper grabbed her by the hair and roughly forced her to her feet.

"Ah, yes, that sound never gets old." The figure smiled through its mask as it reared back and slapped her hard.

"Now you're going to do exactly as I say. If you do, I'll take it easy on you. For today anyway." The voice cackled as they roughly pushed Christina forward.

Her arms and ankles were still bound, and the push had sent her crashing awkwardly back down to the ground, landing painfully on her knees.

"Ow! You bastard!" she yelled.

"Language, language…you're doing nothing to help your cause talking like that." The figure said as it reared back its left leg and kicked her hard in the legs. Christina bit her lip to keep from swearing as the figure kicked her again, square in the back.

"Please, stop." She pleaded through pained breaths.

"Are you sorry?" the voice asked.

"Yes." Christina nodded weakly. The figure laughed loudly.

"Good, now stand up. You have five seconds."

"What?"

"Five…four…"

Christina didn't understand but right now wasn't the time to try to figure it out. She didn't want to know what her punishment would be if she didn't do as she was told.

"Three…two…" the figure continued to count, watching with glee as the woman struggled to get to her feet.

"One…" the voice said as Christina rose.

Just as she stood the figure reached back and punched her square in the face, knocking her back down to the floor in pain.

"You have five seconds to stand, come on now!" the voice said loudly with sick-sounding glee.

Christina hated the fact that she was bound, that she couldn't fight back or catch herself. She was so limited, and at this person's mercy. The countdown began again and she desperately tried to get to her feet. She stood when the figure reached two, but was immediately punched in the face again, causing blood to drip from her nose.

"You're sick! What do you want from me!" she yelled as the voice began to countdown again.

She tried to stand one more time, but again was met with a punch to her face, this time her left eye. Christina felt defeated, she didn't know what to do, she couldn't win. This time she didn't try to move as the figure began the countdown once more. When the countdown was over the figure moved closer.

"You're giving up already? Wow that was quick, you have no will I see. You're pathetic. Nothing but a waste of what you were given." The figure spat at her.

"Fuck you, go burn in hell!" Christina yelled as she looked up at the figure looming over her. The figure smiled once more.

"What did I tell you about language?" the figure reared back with its left leg and gave her another hard kick to the shins.

"I thought you learned…this…lesson…already." The figure said, kicking her each time.

Christina curled into a ball, doing her best to absorb the kicks. Finally the figure stopped, taking a step back. The voice then said the words she had begun to dread.

"You have five seconds. If you don't try, you will be punished." With that, the countdown began as tears filled Christina's eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I apologize, this chapter is a little slow. Next one will be up soon though. Thank you for the continued interest. For those of you wondering, this is primarily my attempt at writing a case-fic. There is something going on with JJ and Cole though I promise I'm not making this JJ/OC. Hopefully it all ties in as well as I had planned when I started this.**

The team was back at their table bright and early the next morning. The first order of business was to call Garcia to see what she had found.

"Hey baby, what did you find for us?" Morgan asked as he put her on speaker phone.

"Well my dears, it seems as though your gym suspicions _may_ have some legs. Alex Arivous, Rodney Brandt and the first victim, Brittany Regan, all had gym memberships to Running Success. They weren't all at the same gym however. Alex and Brittany went to the one off of Lewis Avenue, and Rodney went to one five miles away off of Branch Street."

"There could be something there. Our unsub could work there or maybe he has or had a membership with Running Success." Morgan said.

"JJ, any idea where the gym that Cole and Christina go to is?"

JJ shook her head no as Garcia could be heard typing on her computer.

"I can give you an educated guess, based off of where they live and where the closest gym to them is." Garcia said as she continued to type.

"And…we have a winner. They live three miles from Branch Street and eight miles from Lewis Avenue." Garcia finished.

"So they probably go the gym off Branch Street. I'll have JJ ask Cole just to confirm, but we should head over there and interview the manager." Hotchner said a loud to no one in particular.

"Have you found anything else useful Garcia?" Emily asked.

"Well, I've been scrolling through the personal records of all of the victims so far. All of their habits are slightly different but normal overall. They all live on their own, none of them have any suspicious activity on their accounts."

"How about potential unsubs? Have you found anything?" JJ asked.

"Sorry pumpkin, I need more information on what to look for before I can start devising lists. I can't just look for accidents in general, there are too many."

"What about gym accidents? Or athletic injuries? It wouldn't just be any athletic injury, it would be to someone who had a lot of talent, it would've been a big story." Spencer said.

"I can check, it'll give me something to do at least." Garcia agreed.

"Ok, thanks Garcia." Emily said as Garcia hung up.

Hotchner looked around the table at everyone, including Detective Harlan who had just walked over with a cup of coffee to join them.

"Brittany Regan's parents are on the way, Erika Maybin's parents are in room 12." He announced as he took a seat. Hotchner nodded as he looked to Prentiss and Rossi who nodded back.

"Ok while Dave and Emily are interviewing the last two families I'll take Reid to the Running Success on Branch St. and Morgan will go with Detective Harlan to the one off Lewis Avenue. We'll interview the manager, try to get the tapes from the cameras, look for anything that may give us a clue that we are in fact on the right track." He said.

"Any questions?"

Nobody said anything.

"Good, let's get to it." Hotchner said as they all stood.

Suddenly Hotchner paused as something had caught his eye. The rest of the group saw this and looked in the same direction. From across the room stood Cole, holding a little boy's hand. It was his nephew Aiden.

When JJ first saw the sight she thought it was pretty cute, Aiden looked adorable. Cole on the other hand looked tired, as if he hadn't slept much. But then after that moment had passed she questioned why the hell Cole would bring him there.

"JJ?" Hotchner turned to her.

"I don't know." She shrugged, finishing his unspoken question for him.

"I'll go talk to them." She said before walking over.

The rest of the team watched for a moment, until Hotchner regained their focus and sent them on their respective ways. They didn't have time to be distracted.

/

JJ approached the pair, forcing herself to project a warm smile when her eyes met Aiden's.

"Hi little guy, how are you?" she asked as she bent down in front of him.

Aiden twisted his hand in Cole's doing his best to hide behind his uncle out of shyness.

"It's ok Aiden, Jennifer's nice, she's a friend. Go ahead, say hi to her." Cole encouraged as he smiled at him. After a little more encouragement he stopped trying to hide.

"Hello." He said softly.

"Hi Aiden, it's nice to meet you." JJ smiled as she gently shook his hand.

"What are you doing here, don't you have to be at daycare?" she asked politely.

Aiden quietly shook his head no.

"No? Wow, lucky you. So what are you going to do today?"

He simply shrugged.

JJ smiled once more, knowing Aiden still felt shy and a little uncomfortable around her. She stood up and was about to say something to Cole when Aiden surprised them both, letting go of Cole's hand and grabbing on to JJ's pant leg.

"I want my mommy! I miss her…where is she?" he asked, close to sobbing.

JJ was caught a little off guard, her heart breaking for the child but momentarily unsure how to respond.

Cole looked down at Aiden, watching him and Jennifer's reaction without meeting her eyes. After a moment he gently unhooked Aiden from her leg.

"It's ok buddy, I told you mommy will be home soon. She's just been really busy with work, remember?" Cole said as he bent down and looked Aiden in the eyes.

"But I miss her! Why won't she stop working and come home?" he asked as a tear trickled down his cheek.

"She will, I promise. But hey, we had fun this morning didn't we? Remember?" he encouraged his nephew as the child slowly nodded yes, his tears clearing a little.

"And I promised you I'd let you take a quick tour of what a police station looks like before your play date, remember?"

Again Aiden nodded.

"And we're here aren't we? Pretty cool huh?"

"Yeah…" Aiden said as he looked around the precinct.

"So cheer up little buddy, mommy will be home before you know it." Cole finished.

He looked up at JJ who met his eyes and smiled. Aiden was very cute, and it stung to see him so upset and want his mommy. She felt terrible for the kid. Hopefully they would get her back to him soon.

"I'm sorry about that, he really misses her." Cole began to explain.

"It's ok, I understand. I just…don't understand why you brought him here." JJ said as she looked around to illustrate her point.

"I didn't have anyone to watch him until eleven and I wanted to come here and see what was happening. Tracy had to take her mother to the doctor's but she'll be by in a little bit to pick him up and watch him for the rest of the day for me."

"I see."

"We've known Tracy for a long time and our families always help each other. Aiden and her son Trent are really close. I figure if I'm spending so much time here it might be better for Aiden to stay somewhere where he can be happy and not think about his mom." He finished.

"I'm definitely going to miss my little man, though." He said as he ruffled Aiden's hair playfully, getting the kid to giggle.

JJ smiled, it was cute how obviously close they were. If she hadn't known any better then she would have guessed that Cole were Aiden's father just by how they acted around each other. It was certainly warming to see a guy like Cole be able to take care of a kid.

"Are you busy?" Cole asked as he looked to JJ, grabbing her attention from watching Aiden.

"Uh, I was just about to go over my media responsibilities and what not, nothing too pressing at the moment. What can I do for you?"

"I was just hoping maybe we could take a walk, you know, talk about how things are going while I give Aiden a quick tour."

JJ thought about it for a moment, then agreed.

"Ok, we'll have to make it pretty quick though and I can't tell you everything."

"That's fine." Cole smiled, his eyes grabbing and holding hers. Finally, it was JJ who looked away, glancing around the room trying to find an excuse to not look at him.

"Come on Aiden, grab a hold of Jennifer's hand." Cole encouraged, getting both their attention. Aiden looked up at JJ with wide eyes and she smiled down warmly at him.

"Let's go buddy, this is a pretty cool place but you have to stay close, ok? No wandering off anywhere." She smiled as Aiden nodded emphatically, jumping around with excitement.

/

Hotchner and Reid arrived at Running Success, entering through the front door and making their way to the desk straight ahead.

"Hello gentlemen, what can I do for you?" the girl in sweats behind the desk asked as she looked back and forth between them.

"We need to speak to the manager please." Hotchner said calmly.

"Uh, well what is this about, maybe I can help you?"

"No thank you, please get your boss over here." He said more sternly.

The girl looked between them both again, sizing them up while considering her options. Finally, after a moment she dialed the phone on the desk and said a few words before hanging up.

"He'll be out in a minute." She turned to them.

"Thank you." Hotchner nodded.

"Are you guys looking to join the gym? I can give you information on our hours and rates."

"That won't be necessary, thank you anyway." Hotchner said, trying to remain polite while Spencer inspected the angles of the surveillance cameras propped up on the walls around the immediate area. A few more minutes passed before a fit looking man of about forty came out to greet them.

"What can I do for you sirs?"

"I'm Agent Hotchner, this is Agent Reid we're from the FBI."

"Ronald Curry." The man said as the shook hands.

"Am I in trouble? All of my operating licenses are up to date." The man offered.

"No, it's nothing like that, we just have a few questions for you." Spencer interjected.

"Ok, how about we step into my office where it is a little more private." Curry offered as the men agreed and followed him.

"So what is this about?" he asked them once they had all been seated in his tiny office.

"Mr. Curry have you noticed anyone suspicious or anything out of the ordinary the last few weeks?" Hotchner started.

"Around here? No, everything has seemed pretty normal. People come, people go, they stick to their routines, everything has been fine; business has been good."

"You haven't noticed anyone at all?" Spencer asked.

"No, I really haven't. Sure you have the occasional altercation or person acting a little weird, but it's nothing new. Why what is the meaning of this?"

"What about employees?"

"What about them?"

"Nobody is acting strange, hasn't been doing their job. Or maybe they seemed extra interested in your clientele?"

"No, not that I have noticed, we've had nothing reported. Can you please tell me what this is about?"

"We're not trying to alarm you sir, but over the last couple weeks someone has been abducting and killing people twenty-five to thirty-two in this general area. Specifically, four of the victims had memberships at Running Success, including two here." Hotchner explained.

"Wow, really? Damn that's scary." Curry said, taken a little a back.

"While we are still in the gathering stage, we do have reason to believe that there is some connection between the murders and the fitness center. That is why we are asking about your clients and employees, is there anything you can tell us that would be more of help?" Spencer added.

"Well, I don't know. I would love to help you obviously, I can't afford the bad publicity. Most of our employees are part time and we have a lot of turn over based off the fact that a lot of our employees are college-aged or just starting out. It's tough to actually get to know most of them because by the time you do they leave or get transferred to another gym."

"What do you mean transferred?"

"You see, like I said we employ a lot of younger people, they aren't always reliable especially working at the front desk. If someone calls out at one building, they might transfer someone over there for a day or a week to cover for that person."

"Does this happen often?" Hotchner asked.

"It happens enough so that it can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. This business isn't always easy believe it or not."

"Is there anyone you've been transferring recently or had transferred over? Specifically from the Lewis Avenue location?" Spencer questioned.

"Uh, let me think. No, I don't think so. We've been at full staff the last two weeks or so, which is pretty impressive for us." Curry chuckled.

"What about clients? What are the requirements and restrictions to membership? Can you show up even if you aren't a member?" Spencer asked as he continued to make mental notes.

"Yes, you can show up if you aren't a member. We charge five dollars a day for walk-ins. It's a pretty competitive price actually, so we do get a lot of walk-ins daily. It works well for people who want to work out but don't have the time to make a full time commitment."

"As for member restrictions we don't have too many. People are allowed to go to which ever location they find convenient once they have become a member. We're open four am to midnight every day, our busy times are before and after work as you would expect."

"Are your camera's operational Mr. Curry?" Hotchner asked.

"Of course. They only cover the lobby and the work out area however. There are no cameras in the locker rooms or bathrooms for obvious reasons."

"Ok, we're going to need the tapes from the last two weeks if you could."

"Uh, sure. That's a lot of tape to go through though."

"That's ok, we have a lot of people working on this and we think we know what we're looking for." Hotchner answered.

"Good enough for me, suit yourself." Curry shrugged his shoulders.

"Last question, and I know this may be a little broad, but do you have a lot of people who are injured or disabled that come through here that you can think of? Specifically someone who may work out a lot, but still be limited by a physical restriction?" Spencer asked.

Curry chuckled as he considered the question.

"It's a gym so we see all types. People will come here to rehab all sorts of injuries from broken bones, pulled muscles and torn ligaments. Personally, I don't spend as much time on the floor as some of my other employees do so they might have a slightly better idea."

"We'll talk to them if you don't mind, just to ask them a few questions." Hotchner said.

"Of course, feel free. I'll get you the tapes." Curry said as they stood.


	6. Chapter 6

Christina collapsed in pain, internally begging the looming darkness to consume her in order to ease her pain. She had played her captors game and lost every time. Every time she stood the figure would punch her or push her painfully back down to the floor. Her knees ached, her face was bloody, battered, and felt swollen. She had bruises up and down her legs, back and stomach from the kicks she had endured. She couldn't take it anymore. She wished the figure would show her mercy by either leaving her alone or knocking her unconscious.

The figure would disappear for periods of time of which Christina had no idea of how long they were. As far as she was concerned it was too short, and shortening each time. Every time she heard the unmistakable sounds of the uneven footsteps approaching, she closed her eyes, praying the figure would think she were still out cold.

It never worked though. Every time the figure would merely force her to her feet or splash her with water. Then they would play the game again. They had already done so at least three times. Christina wanted to cry as she heard the door open again. She thought she knew exactly what was coming.

"Get up!" the voice ordered harshly.

Christina shook her head.

"I'm not playing games, I said get up!" the voice yelled as its hand painfully ripped at her hair.

"Ok, ok." Christina whispered.

The figure stood back and watched satisfied as she struggled to get to her feet, pain radiating down her body.

"You've been too easy so far. I thought you'd be more fun than this. I thought you were physically sound, maybe I was wrong." The figure said, painfully running its hand over her bruised ribs.

"I think it's time that we cleaned you up a little." The figure smiled. With that it pushed her forward, leading her from the room and down the hall.

Christina tried to take in as much as she could, but one of her eyes was almost swollen shut and her vision was blurry. They turned when they reached the second room on the right. It was a bathroom.

Christina stood frozen for a moment, uncertain and full of fear. The figure gave her a push forward, towards the filled bathtub. Christina wanted to resist, but she didn't want to be punished.

Slowly she was forced painfully to her knees at the foot of the tub. The figure pushed her hair behind her shoulders.

"Maybe you're not as strong physically as I thought, or maybe I just caught you on a bad day. I know you have good lungs." Her captor whispered.

Christina didn't know what that meant. By the time she began to figure it out, it was too late.

The figure grabbed the back of her neck and forced her head under water, holding it there as her pinned body struggled to break free and get air.

Christina felt the air leaving her lungs, and slowly her struggling began to subside as she came closer and closer to succumbing to the lack of oxygen. Just as she thought she was about to black out her head was lifted from the water and she gasped for air.

Her lungs burned as the first gulps of air reached them. She coughed and sputtered, trying her damndest to clear the water from her lungs.

Slowly, her senses began to return and she heard the voice again. It was counting down. Again. It was at two…one…her head was forced back into the tub. The whole process began again. As the air left her lungs once more, Christina questioned what hell she was in, and what she had done to deserve it.

/

Cole watched with a sly smile on his face as Aiden playfully held JJ's attention while she gave them a quick tour of the different areas of the precinct. Some areas were restricted and others weren't a place to take a kid, but JJ had gone through various hallways and circled back to make it more real and exciting for Aiden.

The whole time he giggled as JJ explained to him in child terms about bad guys and good guys and how he was meeting some of the real life good guys. To him, it was the coolest thing in the world, and it made Cole happy to see Aiden forget about his mother and have a genuinely good time. He didn't want to think how much it would hurt the kid if he never saw his mother again. It would be devastating, to the both of them. Finally, they circled back to where they had started, standing right next to the lounge room.

"Aiden, why don't you go watch TV for a minute while I talk to Jennifer." Cole offered as the kid readily agreed.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" JJ asked as she looked after him.

"He'll be fine for a few minutes. There are a couple of officers in there anyway, he can't get into too much trouble."

JJ nodded skeptically as Cole smiled.

"Don't worry, I know my nephew." He said giving JJ a look that made her smile too. She didn't know why she cared so much, maybe it was like Cole had said earlier; it was in her nature.

"So how is the case going, please be truthful. I realize I sort of flipped out on you last night, and I apologize. I'm just really stressed."

"It's ok, I've been through a lot worse, trust me. The case is going ok. I can't get too specific, but I can tell you we have almost completed interviewing all of the victim's families."

"Do you have any leads?"

"We're still connecting the dots, but we are pursuing a few things."

"Like what?"

JJ grimaced a little.

"Sorry, I can't tell you that."

"Come on, Jennifer, why not?"

"My boss would have my ass for one. Second, the less you know right now the better. We can't afford to have you go out there like a vigilante, it could cause more harm than good. We don't want more people to get hurt; you, your sister, or anyone else."

Cole looked away from her as he nodded.

"I do have one question for you, however."

Cole turned his attention back to her.

"Which is what?"

"Where is the gym that the two of you go to located?"

"Uh, Branch St., a few miles from here, why?"

"Just wondering." JJ said simply as it was her turn to look away. Cole gave her a look.

"Come on Jennifer, really? Do you suspect that the gym we attend has something to with why she was abducted?"

"Like I said Cole, right now we're just looking for details and following potential leads, that's all. It's probably nothing, but it's a question I had to ask." JJ said as she stared at him, telling him not to press her further.

They stood there in silence for a moment, while Cole debated whether or not to test his luck with her. Finally he spoke again.

"What about the media?"

"What about them?"

"I haven't heard anything on the news about this. And the only mentions in the paper are of murders or 'suspicious deaths'. It's like they haven't connected the dots."

"That's a good thing right now."

"Is it really? What if someone saw something but is too scared to come forward, or doesn't know what is happening?"

"Listen, we don't want the media involved yet, trust me. If they get involved the story will take on a life of its own. They don't care about people, or your sister, they only care about the story. If we get the media involved before we know what we're dealing with it could scare him into killing your sister, or make him feed off the coverage and become even more bold and tortuous. We have to wait."

"Time is getting short."

"I know it is, you don't have to remind us. Please, just have faith that we know what we're doing." She smiled at him softly, meeting his eyes. Cole's lips turned up into a slight smile of his own.

"Ok, I'll try. But keep me updated."

"I told you I would."

He nodded, looking back into the lounge and seeing Aiden watching TV. JJ followed his gaze and stared for a moment until she heard Hotch's voice as the team began to file back in. Just then Cole's phone rang. He answered it, said a few words, and hung up.

"Aiden, come here. We have to go, Tracy's here." He called as the little boy came running.

"Make sure you thank Jennifer for the tour she gave you." He smiled. JJ bent down as the little boy beamed at her.

"Thank you!" he hugged her excitedly.

"It was nice to meet you, Aiden. Stay safe, your mommy will be home soon." She whispered to him. The boy nodded and let go of her.

"I still miss her."

"I know you do little guy. Stay strong, and have fun at your friend's house for me, ok?"

The boy nodded again and she stood, coming face to face with Cole. They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment. Suddenly he closed the distance between them, pulling her in for a hug.

JJ felt her heart rate increase a little as their bodies came in contact.

"Thank you for everything, I really appreciate it. Especially with Aiden, I know he does too." He whispered as he continued to hug her.

As this was happening, Prentiss and Rossi exited the room from their last interview. Rossi walked over to the others, oblivious. Emily however, noticed the hug and paused for a second.

It wasn't weird to her that JJ would console families or hug someone, she did it all the time. But in this instance the person she was hugging had his hands around her waist, his fingers resting on her hips. Even more remarkable to Emily, was that JJ seemed completely oblivious to it. She stood there a moment, watching and waiting for JJ to join her.

"I have to run a few errands, but I'll be back later." Cole said as they pulled away, his eyes looking deep into hers as his hands still held her.

"Ok, we'll be here." JJ smiled as she pulled away from him.

"Have fun Aiden."

"Bye, Jennifer." The kid waved happily as they left. JJ smiled as she turned around and came face to face with Emily.

"What was that, JJ?" Emily asked both curious and in awe.

"What do you mean?" JJ asked confused.

"The hug, the whole, his-hands-on-your-waist-thing." Emily spelled it out for her.

"He didn't have his hands on my waist." JJ looked at her as if she were crazy.

"Uh, yeah he did. How did you, of all people, not notice something like that?"

JJ's face turned pink as she self-consciously adjusted her shirt.

"You're making that up." JJ tried half-heartedly, even though she knew Emily was right.

"Haha, yeah I would make that up." Emily laughed. JJ was silent. They turned to join the group as JJ prayed no one else had seen her now that she was thoroughly embarrassed.

"For the record, he is very handsome. I'd go after that, you need a man."

"Emily!" JJ snapped in a hushed tone.

"I'm just saying. If you do I'd wait until the case is done though, you'd be playing with fire otherwise. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that."

"No, you don't. But don't worry, I'm all set. That's the last thing I need right now. I want to get that kid his mother back." JJ said as she looked determinedly at Emily.

"Agreed."


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Sorry for the slight wait, would've been up yesterday but the site was down. Another update is likely either later today or sometime tomorrow. **

"Let's all focus and go over what we have." Hotchner said as the team gathered around.

"Reid and I went to the gym off Branch St. and recovered the surveillance tapes from the last two weeks. There is a lot there so we're going to have to split up so we can get through the tapes more quickly."

"We recovered the tapes from the Lewis Avenue gym as well." Morgan said.

"Good, we'll have to set up a couple of TV's, is that possible Detective Harlan?" Hoctchner asked.

"Of course. I can have a TV rolled over for one of the groups, and we can use the flat screen in the lounge for a second group to use for viewing."

"That would be appreciated. Between the two gyms we have a lot here. We'll start by focusing on the day or two before each of the kidnappings at the specific times each of the victims went to the gym. We'll look for anything or anyone suspicious during that time." Hotchner directed.

"We asked the manager and a few of the employees if they saw anything suspicious, nothing really stood out to them. A lot of the employees work part time, but nobody seemed likely as a potential suspect." Morgan stated as he looked around the table.

"We had the same luck. I think we are more likely looking for someone who goes to the gym, rather than someone who works there. Most of the employees are on the younger side and they all seem to be in good shape; no noticeable physical hindrances." Spencer said.

"That's going to be difficult, a lot of people attend these gyms and through talking to the manager, a lot of people go there to rehab injuries as you might expect. " Harlan added.

"We were told the same thing. One employee thought there were a few people who could fit the description we gave her, but she didn't have anything other than first names. Not a lot to go on there." Hotchner mentioned.

"It may also be difficult to find this guy in that he doesn't have to have a membership. We talked to Erika Maybin's parents and they told us as far as they knew Erika would occasionally go to the gym, but she didn't have a membership and they weren't sure about the name of the gym." Emily noted.

"We could assume she went to Running Success, that seems to be the lone general commonality between all of the victims so far. And you are correct, non-members can simply show up and pay cash for the day, not all gyms allow that." Spencer said.

"So we do think this gym is where he notices and targets his victims?" JJ asked.

"It appears so. Again, there is little else that all these victims have in common. We could still be wrong, but let's hope not." Hotchner answered.

"And it seems less and less likely that we could be wrong. If we do find something on the tapes, that should at least confirm it for us even if we don't get an accurate image of the unsub." Spencer said.

"Then maybe we could at least get something out to the media to get out to the public to try to I.D. this guy." JJ said.

"Maybe, we don't want to jump on that too soon, if we spook him it could have an adverse effect and he or she could kill Christina." Hotchner said skeptically.

"We're going to need help finding this guy if he isn't in Garcia's database Hotch. People may have seen him or noticed him at the gym and they could come forward, it would make our job a little easier." JJ continued.

"I agree, it would. But we'll discuss it once we get there. Right now we have to focus on the tapes and any other leads we may come across. Did either of you find anything else from the interviews?" Hotchner said as he turned to Prentiss and Rossi.

"The families were distraught as is to be expected. Beyond the fact that both ladies occasionally went to the gym they both lived separate, but still rather normal lives just like the rest of the victims did." Rossi responded.

Hotchner nodded as he glanced around the table for a moment.

"Let's get those TVs set up, time is getting short, especially if we're on the wrong track."

/

Christina slowly regained consciousness. She winced in pain when she inhaled, her lungs burned and felt bruised, causing pain to radiate through her chest every time she took a breath. She put her weight on her sore arms, pushing herself into a sitting position as she again found herself in the room with the hardwood floor.

She felt broken, as if her will to live was slowly being drained from her. Every time she thought of death, she tried to fight it off, reminding herself of Aiden. He needed his mother. He couldn't grow up without parents. She knew Cole would take care of him if it came down to it, but it still would never be the same. Aiden and Cole both loved her, needed her, were depending on her.

She had to be strong, no matter what this bastard did to her, no matter how much it hurt. There was no way she was going to let this person win, even if her lungs felt stretched and every muscle in her body hurt.

Even though her head was pounding, her nose was broken and she could only see fully out of one eye. She would be there to raise Aiden and watch him grow up. He would be her source of strength now in this place of darkness and dwindling hope.

Christina closed her eyes, picturing her smiling son as she leaned her head against the wall. Gradually, her exhausted body drifted off to sleep as she continued to picture her son, using it as a source to ease her pain and strengthen her resolve.

/

Cole walked through the aisles of the drug store, picking up a few items as he thought about Christina. She had been missing for almost two full days and he knew that meant she likely was getting beat up and tortured. He knew his sister was strong, he just prayed she was strong enough to hold on for at least another day.

It did seem as though the FBI was making some progress, but it was slow and to Cole, it felt as though he had a big clock hanging above his head, counting down Christina's last moments alive if she wasn't found soon.

Jennifer had done all she could to convince him that they were making progress, that they knew what they were doing, that they were doing the right thing by not getting the media involved yet. He wanted to believe her and he kind of did, sort of. He was just worried that they might regret not going to the media sooner if they didn't find this guy in time. That was something he would never forgive himself for. He wanted nothing more than to call someone up and get more attention for his sister's case.

'Wait a little longer, wait until tomorrow. Give the FBI a little more time to do their job.' He told himself as he approached one of the drug aisles he was looking for.

He would give them another twelve hours or so until he did something. If he wasn't satisfied by their progress after that, then he would have no choice but to act. His sister would be just about out of time by then, he would be desperate, his hand would be forced.

Even so, he had to be prepared just in case. Which was why he was doing some quick shopping, even in such a dire situation as this.

Cole smiled as he found what he was looking for, throwing it into his basket with some of the food items he had decided to purchase. He glanced down the rest of the aisle quickly, not wanting to waste too much time but also wanting to make sure there wasn't anything else he would need. Once he was satisfied, he made his way to the front counter and emptied his basket.

"Good afternoon." The young female clerk smiled as she began to scan the items.

Cole met her eyes and nodded in acknowledgement. The clerk was nearly done scanning when she came across an item that made her give him a slight look.

"For my sister, she was too embarrassed to pick it up herself." Cole smiled charmingly at the clerk. The clerk's face softened and she smiled back.

"I can understand that I suppose, some people are kind of shy about these things. Not to be nosy, but did she tell you to pick this out?"

Cole shifted his stance, pretending to be a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I guess she's used it before, have you?"

The girl laughed and blushed immediately.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask such a personal question." He laughed playfully.

"No, no it's ok. I haven't used it before but I know someone who has."

"Likely story, we all have 'friends' who have used these things right?" Cole flirted.

"No, I mean it! And for the record she loves it. If she's looking for a little extra boost or to get 'in the mood', she takes one of those and it basically works just like the men's version." The girl explained.

"Yes, that's what my sister's looking for." Cole smiled again.

"You're a good brother." The girl smiled as she finished scanning and took his money. They remained silent while the girl made changed and bagged his items.

"Thanks for your help, I appreciate it." Cole said as he took his change and reached for the bags.

"Oh, you're very welcome. Make sure you don't use that stuff on your girlfriend now, it'll give her a good time but if she has no idea she'll probably kill you later, unless you make it worth her while." The girl teased.

"I would never dream of doing such a thing." Cole smiled back slyly, leaving the store.


	8. Chapter 8

The team had just finished setting up the TV stations and were about to split up when Garcia phoned them.

"Hey baby, do you have any good news for us?" Morgan asked as he put her back on speakerphone.

"Well, I looked into publicized athletic injuries as you asked and I do have a list of names over the last five years. That's the good news."

"What's the bad news?" Rossi asked.

"Most of the injuries took place in high school, and many of those have since recovered and gone away to college. Some of the major injuries that took place to athletes going to college here, either check out, or returned home and live in a different state."

"If they had the injury while they were in high school, I think it is less likely they are our unsub. I think we're looking for someone in a similar age range as the victims." Spencer hypothesized.

"What are you saying Reid, that this was a waste of time?" Morgan asked, a little frustrated.

"Not necessarily, we can still consider those high schoolers who are still here and maybe never fully recovered. What I'm saying is either they are or were hurt in college, or perhaps the injury occurred in a different manner."

"Such as?" JJ asked. Spencer remained silent for a moment, running scenarios through his head. Finally his face lit up a little and he spoke.

"Detective Harlan, do you have a lot of returning military in the area?"

"We have more and more, yes. With the war winding down and more of our soldiers returning home, there has been an influx of military in the area. We have an Army Base, Air Force Base and Naval Reserve all within five to ten miles of Portland International Airport."

"Spence you think this guy is wounded military?" JJ asked, a little surprised.

"I think it would certainly make some sense. He or she returns home after getting hurt overseas, they'll never be the same and they are jealous of this fact. It would explain why they are strong, yet appear to have limited mobility, and also why he is targeting people who attend gyms. If he can't operate in full capacity then why should anyone else?"

"A lot of that certainly would make sense. We still need to narrow it down though." Hotchner said, looking at the others.

"Garica…"

"Already on it boss-man. I'll look up injured soldiers, compile lists and get back to you." Garcia cut him off.

"Thanks Garcia." Emily said, pressing the button to hang up the phone.

"Alright everyone, we have a lot of tape to go through. Morgan, Prentiss and JJ will watch from the lounge, the rest of us will watch out here. Make note of any suspicious activity, times and dates when these events occur." Hotchner said as the team nodded their understanding and split up.

/

It was later in the evening when Cole returned to the precinct. He carried a few bags of food with him as he approached the group of agents watching the TV they had set up at the far corner of the precinct.

"Hey guys, I brought you some food to help keep you going." He offered as he approached Hotchner, Rossi, Reid and Harlan. They turned their focus briefly from the TV to acknowledge him.

"Thank you, that really wasn't necessary." Hotchner said.

"Hey, it's the least that I could do, especially since you're working so hard to get my sister back. What is this you're watching?" he asked turning his focus to the TV.

"Surveillance tapes from the gym." Spencer said absently, focusing his attention on all the details on the screen before him. Cole nodded.

"I see, have you found anything helpful?"

"So far it's hit or miss. We're targeting specific times, but the video is grainy and in some frames there are a lot of people which makes it a little more difficult." Spencer said as the video continued to play.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I think we're ok right now. If we need you or have any questions we'll be sure to tell you." Hotchner replied. Cole stared at the video for a moment, not noticing anything out of the ordinary.

"Do you mind if I stick around and help watch for a while?" he asked finally.

Rossi glanced over at Hotch, giving him a slight look. Hotchner thought about the request for a moment and then nodded his approval.

"Thanks, do you know where the others are?"

"They're in the police lounge, watching tapes." Harlan answered, becoming a little more annoyed.

"Ok, I'll go join them." Cole said, walking away without acknowledgement.

"Are you sure that's such a great idea Hotch?" Rossi asked when Cole was out of earshot.

"He's not a suspect, and he probably knows the people at the gym better than we do. I don't see why it won't hurt as long as he stays out of our way."

"It just seems a little risky to me." Rossi replied.

"Why?"

"The more we keep him in this investigation, the more involved he gets. If something happens to his sister or we need to tell him to leave, it's going to be increasingly hard to do."

"He wants to find his sister; he wants to feel like he's doing something to help. If he sees something on the video that we miss, it could help us crack the case. I'm keeping a close eye on him, and I'm confident JJ has him under control." Hotchner answered as he opened some of the food Cole had brought.

"I trust you Hotch, I'm just making sure you've considered everything, all the variables." Rossi looked at him.

"I have, don't worry."

/

Cole entered the lounge, a smile immediately appearing on his face when he saw JJ seated with Prentiss and Morgan. The group looked up when he entered and greeted him warmly.

"I hope you don't mind, I thought I'd join you. Your boss Hotchner said it would be fine." Cole said as he pulled up a seat beside JJ.

"Sure, if he says it's ok. What's in the bag?" Emily asked.

"I brought you all some food. I thought it was the least I could do."

"Hey thanks my man, I'm starving." Morgan said as he reached for some food after Cole had unpacked it.

JJ looked at Cole and smiled, showing her appreciation. Cole returned the look, something Emily didn't miss out of the corner of her eye.

"How long have you been watching for?"

"A couple of hours now." JJ answered as she dipped into the food.

"Are you guys watching it straight through, or what are you doing?"

"We're targeting specific times when we believe the victims went to the gym, and using the different tapes to get different views of the areas surrounding the victims when they were at the gym." Emily explained.

"There's just too much tape to watch to view them all the way through. It makes more sense to focus on the times that the victims were at the gym anyway." Morgan added.

"Any progress?" Cole looked to Morgan. Morgan visually hesitated for a moment, something Cole picked up on.

"It's a little hard to say, just because most people have routines, so we see a lot of the same people in similar spots on every tape. Whoever it is does a pretty good job of blending in so far." Morgan said as he turned his attention back to the screen.

Cole pursed his lips to keep from saying anything. He had a feeling that Morgan might be lying to him, but he didn't want to call him on it. Right now, it wouldn't do anyone any good to start a fight. JJ noticed Cole tensing a little, and pushed some food towards him to try to distract him a little.

They all sat there for a while, mostly in silence as they went through one tape after another. There were periods of debate as someone would point something out on the screen or they would ask Cole if he recognized certain people, which he did with some. As time passed, their eyes were becoming heavy and the food had almost completely disappeared.

"We'll watch one or two more, and then we'll call it a night." Emily said as she stood and grabbed another tape. Cole stared at her, not entirely happy with that statement.

"We've watched almost all the tapes, we can finish in the morning." JJ soothed him quietly, putting her hand on his wrist. Cole turned his head to her, forcing himself to relax and nod.

Morgan fast forwarded the tape until they reached the approximate time they had targeted for that day. After a few minutes of watching nobody they recognized, they saw Christina enter the frame and get onto a tread mill. Cole froze. He felt a chill run through him at the site of his sister on the screen, obliviously exercising on the treadmill. The other's picked up on his sudden silence and visible discomfort.

"Cole?" JJ asked as he stared in a trance at the screen.

"Cole?" JJ tried again, placing her hand back on his wrist. Suddenly he snapped out of it, and turned his attention over to JJ as a lump formed in his throat.

"Are you ok?" she asked as his eyes began to well up.

"I…oh god…Christina…" he began to cry as he couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Hey, hey, it's ok. We're trying to find her remember?" JJ tried to comfort him as she pulled him in and let him cry on her shoulder.

"I miss her so much. I'm so scared for her. I don't want to lose her."

"I know you don't. I know you don't."

"If we can't get her back I don't know how things will ever be the same." He continued.

Morgan and Prentiss tried not to stare as they both felt bad for the man. They wanted to console him, say something to make him feel better, but JJ had it in hand. If anyone could help someone with the potential loss of a sibling, it was JJ. They knew what she had been through with her sister. They only hoped that it wouldn't hit her too hard, or come back to haunt her either.

"Hey, we're going to find her. And you are helping us to do that Cole. We're making progress." JJ said looking him in the eye as she pulled him from her shoulder.

"You can do this. It's hard, believe me I know, but you can do this." She encouraged.

After a few moments Cole had composed himself and they went back to watching the tape. JJ rested her hand on his arm as it seemed to comfort him some. Towards the end of Christina's run on the treadmill they all noticed something. A man with a pronounced limp had approached her. It was hard to make out, but they could see she was talking to him and she appeared to smile a little.

"Any idea who that is?" Morgan turned to Cole. He shook his head, his blood beginning to boil a little. This was their guy, he knew it.

"Didn't we see the same guy a few tapes back with Alex Arivous?" JJ asked.

"We did. Same height, build and limp. Only difference was Alex was doing weights." Emily nodded.

"This is our kidnapper! He has my sister that son of a bitch!" Cole said as he became more animated.

"Hey, calm down Cole. We still don't know that for sure." JJ tried.

"What do you mean? You don't see that? Emily just said he was on one of the other tapes!"

"We need to make sure before we do anything, please sit down."

Cole glared at JJ, but slowly he did as she asked. They watched the man limp away after a few moments and that seemed to be that.

They popped in another tape from the following day, and the same sequence replayed itself. Christina on the treadmill, the guy with the limp walking over and chatting her up towards the end, and then leaving. Cole was convinced. The others in the room were pretty convinced the man was a little suspicious as well. They may have just found their man.

/

Christina was awoken to the same sound of uneven steps approaching her that she had come to dread. She knew it would be a few more steps, and then the door would open and the figure would hobble in to torture her some more.

Christina forced herself to sit up straight in defiance, rather than cower in fear. As the door opened, the figure walked in and approached her.

"Get up!" the voice ordered.

Christina struggled as her muscles revolted, her strength sapped from the torture and her arms and legs going numb from almost constantly being tied together. Finally, she made it into a standing position against the wall.

"Good girl." The figure smiled. Christina didn't say anything, not even when the distance was closed between them to the point that their bodies almost touched.

"Are you ready for your next test?"

She kept her mouth shut.

"No response? Does that mean no?"

Again, she said nothing as she stared right into the figure's eyes through its hooded mask.

"Answer me!" the figure spat finally, pounding the wall next to her.

"Yes, I'm not scared of you!" she shouted back. The figure chuckled.

"You have good resolve, I'll give you that. Certainly better than some of the others I met." The figure said, reaching out to stroke her cheek.

"The question is…do you have as much heart as they did?"

Christina tried not to flinch when the figure brought its hand to her chest, resting it over her heart. She tried to quell the fear that was building inside of her, preparing for whatever came next.

The figure reached into one of its pockets, pulling a black instrument out that Christina couldn't get a good look at. In one quick and sudden motion, the figure pressed it to her gut, painfully zapping her.

Christina's body shook as the voltage from the taser coursed through her body. When the figure finally pulled it away from her, she slid down the wall to the floor, her body still jolted by the sudden shock. There was a momentary pause as the figure's laughs echoed through the room and rang in her ears. As her body began to recover she heard the dreaded words.

"Get up! You have five seconds." The figure chuckled as the countdown began.

Christina closed her eyes, picturing Aiden, willing herself to find her inner strength to stand up even if all her physical strength was seemingly gone. The countdown was at three when she began to rise, using the wall as support. She made it to her feet just in time.

"Impressive. Let's see how long you last." The figure said before pressing the taser to her once more.

/

The team gathered back at the main table, ready to call it a night.

"What did you find?" Hotchner asked the group approaching from the lounge.

"There were a couple of potential people who stood out, one in particular." Emily responded.

"He would wait until our victims were almost done exercising, then he would limp over and strike up a brief conversation with them. After a few minutes he would leave and disappear, this happened multiple times." Emily finished reporting.

"We noticed something similar, but we couldn't get a good look, the picture is pretty distant and grainy on ours." Spencer said.

"Did you recognize the man, Cole?" Hotchner asked.

"No, but that has to be the bastard who took my sister. It adds up, doesn't it?"

"It certainly could. Male, likes to exercise, has a pronounced limp, talked specifically to each of the victims prior." Spencer surmised. Hotchner nodded.

"This guy is certainly our focus right now. We'll send copies of the flagged parts of tape to Garcia so she can try to find us a decent image to work with so we can I.D. this guy. In the meantime, we'll head to the hotel and all get some rest."

"We're done?" Cole questioned.

"For tonight, yes. It's going to take Garcia a little while. At the moment there's little else we can do. We need to all be fresh for tomorrow if we're going to catch this guy, we can't afford any mistakes." Hotchner answered.

Cole tried not to roll his eyes, as his patience was beginning to really wear thin. Christina's time was almost up, if she had survived so far. The odds of her coming back to him and Aiden in one piece were becoming smaller and smaller, and there was no way he would be able to sleep well with that thought planted in his mind.

He followed the others out of the precinct, his mind deep in thought. He barely noticed when Jennifer patted him on the back and wished him a good night. If he had noticed, he would've realized how ironic it was for her to wish him a _good _night. That was the farthest thing from the truth. Maybe if Christina were home, Aiden was happy and everything was back to normal. Maybe then, it would be a good night, but not right now.


	9. Chapter 9

Christina popped up straight, gasping as the painful pressure on her chest was released. She quickly whipped her head around, praying everything had been a dream. When her eyes met the dark figure beside her, she wanted to cry, knowing it most certainly had not been a dream.

"I thought I almost lost you on that one." The slightly familiar voice chuckled.

"Good thing I've been trained in resuscitation. I would hate to lose you so soon." The man chuckled again as Christina continued to catch her breath.

"What happened?" she finally gasped.

"Your heart stopped. One too many shots with my buddy here I guess. Too bad, you almost beat the record of my previous acquaintance, pretty impressive."

"Screw you." She snarled at him.

"What did I say about language?" he sneered as he reared back and backhanded her.

"You're lucky I'm tired or I'd punish you worse." He said as he struggled to his feet, his bad leg obviously hurting as he put weight on it.

"Rest up darling, tomorrow's another day and I have a lot planned for you." He laughed as he pocketed the taser, closing and locking the door behind him.

Christina collapsed on the floor, sobs wracking her body. She knew too well that she couldn't take much more of this. If she had to endure another full day of her captors' sick torture then she wouldn't survive. Her time was almost up.

"I love you Aiden." She whispered to the empty room.

/

The team was back at the precinct bright and early the next morning. No one was surprised to see that Cole was already there waiting for them. Rossi looked at Hotchner, silently questioning if the situation was still under control.

"Relax, Dave." Hotchner said quietly.

Cole looked up from his seat at the table. In his hands he held a picture of his sister. His eyes looked tired, as if he hadn't slept at all, not that they could blame him. As they approached, he looked up and nodded at them silently.

"Morgan, call Garcia please." Hotchner ordered as Morgan nodded and dialed into the speaker phone.

"Hey baby, what do you have for us?"

"Well, my dear profilers, I worked tirelessly through the night and I came up with a few things. First, the list of returning military is rather large as you would expect. At the request of our young Dr. I narrowed the list to those with lower body injuries."

"And?"

"And…the list is still substantial, but I was able to narrow it down to about forty originally."

"That's still a lot of people to go through." Emily looked at the others.

"Oh, but you didn't hear me my dear Emily, I said _originally_. Using the video you gave me, I was able to focus on right leg injuries and that helped narrow the list down to eight."

"Eight's better, it still might take us a while though." Morgan said.

"My thought's exactly. So, although I wasn't able to get a clear picture of our man, which is the bad news by the way, I _was_ able to speculate how big this individual is. Height, weight, body type with the help, again, of Dr. Spencer Reid."

"Did you sleep last night?" JJ asked as the others looked at him. They would've been more amazed if they didn't already know him, but they were still all impressed. Spencer simply shrugged.

"What did you find Garcia?" he said, trying to take their focus off him.

"Our unsub is guestimated at five-foot ten, two hundred ten pounds. Pretty average overall by any standard. However four, maybe five of the remaining eight are definitely taller, as in six-two six-three."

"You took into account the potential height difference as a result of his limp, correct?" Spencer asked.

"Of course I did sweetie, I wouldn't be very good at my job if I didn't now would I?"

"So we're down to four potential suspects from the video if this guy is a wounded vet." Morgan summarized.

"Great job Garcia, can we have the pictures?" Hotchner commended her.

"I already sent them. You should have them as we speak. I'm in the middle of doing background checks on all four."

"Great, thank you."

"Not a problem. Let me know if you need anything else." Garcia said before she hung up.

Harlan walked over to the printer, grabbing the pictures of their four suspects as they printed. He laid them out on the table for all to see.

"Anyone you recognize?" JJ asked Cole as he stared at the pictures.

"I've seen this one before." he said pointing to a picture labeled 'Thomas Riggo'. "Seems like a nice guy, I don't think he's the same guy we saw on the tape though."

"Why is that?" Rossi asked him.

"He suffered a shoulder injury about two or three weeks ago. I ran into him a few days ago, asked him why he wasn't at the gym, said he needs surgery and can't really lift anything for a while."

"We'll put him to the side and keep him in mind, but we'll put our focus on the other three." Hotchner said as he pulled the picture away from the others.

"So what now? You're going to track these guys down right?"

"We are, as soon as Garcia has some information and we have addresses for these guys." Morgan answered.

"So what do we do while we wait? We're almost out of time."

"And we've come a long way the last two days. We're closing in on this guy." Emily said.

"I think it's time you got the media involved. Scare this guy out of hiding, get the public searching high and low for him." Cole began to press.

"We still don't know _who_ he is, meaning, we don't know what type of person he is. We can't just post pictures on the news of potentially innocent people." Rossi countered.

"So we're going to just stand here idly while my sister dies? Unacceptable! We have to _do_ something! I'm tired of waiting!"

"What do you suggest we do?" Hotchner responded calmly.

"I don't know increase patrols, do something! We know he operates in a certain area, so focus on that area he must live near there."

"That's still a lot of ground to cover and it would be costly especially if we're wrong…" Spencer reasoned out loud.

"You're worried about cost? My sister is out there _dying_ I don't give a fuck how much it costs!" Cole roared as he began to lose it.

"Hey, calm down." JJ tried, putting her hand on his shoulder. He roughly shrugged her off.

"No, I'm done with this! This is bull! If she dies I'm holding you all responsible!" Cole pointed to each of them before he stormed off towards the bathroom, the eyes of the entire precinct on him.

"He's tired." Emily said out loud, looking at the others.

"Poor guy has probably reached the breaking point, I can't really blame him." Morgan added.

"Regardless, he's getting in the way. He's starting to become a liability." Rossi said.

"What do you suggest we do, Dave?" JJ asked, a little annoyed herself. She hurt for Cole, especially at the thought of Aiden potentially losing his mother. She sympathized with him, and she couldn't help to at least agree with Cole a little even if she did trust Hotch to make the right call.

"I think it's time we sent him home, get him out of the way and let him cool off. He's in the way. He's done all he can to help us, now he's just adding stress to an already stressful situation."

"I agree with Agent Rossi. I can't have him tearing through the precinct, especially if things end badly." Harlan said.

"Someone needs to watch him though. Make sure he doesn't come back, get into trouble, or do something stupid." Emily said.

"I can have a police escort bring him home and guard his house." Harlan said. Everyone remained silent for a moment.

"I'll do it. You guys don't really need me right now anyway." JJ spoke up.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Emily said turning to her.

"I've talked to him since we first got here. He trusts me more than anyone else right now. If you need me, just call and I'll come back."

Emily gave Hotch a look of uncertainty as he clearly deliberated the options in front of him.

"Ok JJ, you'll watch him."

"Hotch?" Emily questioned his logic.

"We're not talking to the media yet and JJ has handled Cole from the start. If there's a problem, call us."

"I will." JJ nodded.

"Make sure you bring him straight home. If we need you back here I'll send someone out to relieve you." Hotch said as he stared at JJ.

"Understood, no problem." JJ confirmed as she turned and walked away to go find Cole. Emily watched her go, the pit of her stomach feeling a little uneasy.

/

Cole had checked the bathroom to ensure that no one was around. When he was satisfied he grabbed his phone from his pocket. He was glad that the FBI had bought his 'act' even though it wasn't entirely that. He sure as hell was pissed that they were just standing around and he sure as hell thought his sister's time had just about run out. He had flipped out more than necessary however, purposely doing so in order to go off on his own to make a phone call and put his plan into action.

It was time to get the media involved, he didn't care what the FBI thought. He knew just who to call too. His friend Eric was a TV producer and he owed Cole a favor. Now was as good of time as ever to call it in. As the phone began to ring in his ear Cole continued to pace nervously. Finally Eric picked up.

"Hey Eric, its Cole I need a favor."

"What kind of favor."

"Well it's actually more of a trade if you will."

"Get to the point Cole, I'm pretty busy over here."

"I have a story for you. I need you to run with it."

"What kind of a story? If it's to highlight one of your start-ups I really don't have the time or man power to do it right now."

"No, no nothing like that. It's a lot bigger than that and nobody has really picked up on it so far, I'm giving you a head start if you will."

"Uh, ok, what is it?"

"Remember those murders that have been in the news the last few weeks, they seemed kind of random? Well they aren't they're all connected, there's a serial killer in Portland." Cole said. He could hear Eric chuckle on the other end.

"Come on Cole, really? We already talked to the police and they gave us proof that it was merely coincidental and circumstantial. We got off that train a while ago."

"Well you should get back on it. They are connected and there is a killer. He's targeting people who attend the gym Running Success for some reason. It all links up. The cops couldn't handle it so they called in the FBI. They've been here for the last three days." Cole could hear Eric pause on the other end.

"You're being serious?"

"Yes, trust me I wouldn't lie about this."

"Why hasn't anyone said something sooner? Why did the police lie to us?"

"Why do you think, they don't want the bad publicity and they don't want to create a panic. They thought they could handle it, but they can't. This could be a huge story for you."

"How do you know all this Cole? What's your angle?"

"Don't worry, just trust me on this. I really need you to pick up this story."

"I'll send someone, but only after you tell me how you know all this."

Cole sighed into the phone, running a hand through his hair.

"Because whoever's doing this has my sister."


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Thank you again to all who are reading this. Some of the action does finally begin to pick up as the climax of the story approaches. Again, this is fan fiction so I may have taken a few liberties, but I am trying to make this as realistic to Criminal Minds as possible. Reviews are welcome!**

Christina was woken up by a splash of water to the face.

"Wake up, your big day has arrived. It's time to see if you are worthy or if you're just like the others. Hopefully you won't disappoint me." The figure in the ski mask chuckled as he leered down at her.

"What are you talking about?" Christina whispered hoarsely.

"Here, drink some water, you're going to need it." He said as he pressed the bottle to her lips and forced her to drink. At first she tried to resist, but when her parched lips came in contact with the liquid she began to swallow it down in gulps. Finally after a moment he pulled the bottle away.

"Good, now get up." He ordered. Christina paused, taking a breath as she prepared herself for the pain she was sure she would feel.

"Why are you doing this? I don't understand."

"It doesn't matter."

"No, I want to know." She glared defiantly. The figure pulled back, painfully rising to his feet as he debated whether it would be worth it to indulge her.

"I know who you are." Christina blurted out. The man paused, staring deep into her eyes.

"You think because you're wearing a mask it will help disguise you from me but it doesn't, I know exactly who you are."

"Oh, really?" the figure challenged as he stepped forward.

"Of course, we met at the gym. We talked, you seemed nice at the time. I never did anything to hurt you…"

"Don't!" the man lunged forward and grabbed her face roughly.

"Don't play games with me, and don't you dare say my name!" he shouted as his fingers painfully dug into her jaw.

"Then tell me why! Why this, why me!" Christina shouted back, ignoring the pain in her jaw.

"Why! I'll tell you why! Because you're all alike. You take everything for granted, you're entitled. If something minor goes wrong in your life you think it's the end of the world. You think you've battled adversity! I gave the functionality of my leg for people like you! This is the thanks I get? Well it's time for you to see what real adversity is like."

"It was your choice to go to war, that's something you have to live with. You can't take that away by torturing and killing others!"

"I only kill them if they are weak. That's what this whole thing is you see, a test to see how strong you are. To see if you could possibly endure some of the things I have had to go through, that you take for granted daily. And you know what? Not surprisingly so far everyone has failed in the end. Maybe, you'll be different, but I doubt it." He said, roughly releasing his grip on her face.

"You think just because I haven't gone through what you did that I haven't faced adversity? I have! I'm a single parent struggling to make ends meet while having my brother room in the same house. Do you think things went the way I planned them? Hell no! But I'm working through it the best I can, I'm facing it head on, as you should be."

"Don't you dare lecture me about how I should be handling things!" he roared as he slapped her.

Christina whimpered as she rubbed her cheek.

After a few moments of tense silence she spoke again.

"Listen, do I think you got a raw deal? Yes, probably. Do I think you've been under appreciated for the sacrifices you had to make? Again, probably. But please…I'm begging you…don't do this. I have a young son, I don't want him to grow up without a parent." She hated to beg, she really did, but she was desperate. She knew where things were headed, what things were coming to.

Today was the day she either left this place alive, or died and never got to see her son again. Her options were almost gone so she was left to try to appeal to the human side of this man, if he had a human side. Boy, did she pray that he still had a human side left in him. The figure turned to look at her, giving her another long look.

"You'll see your son again, if you pass the final test."

/

Once Cole had a promise from Eric that he would maintain Cole's anonymity for the time being, he filled the producer in on some of the vital details. Eric responded by promising Cole he would have someone at the precinct within a half hour and if parts of the story checked out, then he would make it the top story on the noon time news.

Cole was satisfied with this response, as he hoped Christina's case would finally get the publicity he felt that it deserved. Now it was on to stage two of his plan. He exited the bathroom and immediately Jennifer walked over from nearby to meet him.

"We have to go." She said to him seriously.

"What do you mean?" he asked, trying to act confused.

"They want you out of the precinct for the time being. It's for the best, we're at a critical stage." JJ tried to explain.

_Perfect_ Cole smiled internally to himself.

"I…I guess I understand. I shouldn't have lost it back there, I'm sorry." He looked at her with his attractive eyes.

"It's a little late for that now, but for what it's worth I understand. You haven't slept and you're stressed." JJ looked at him softly.

"I've tried, I just can't."

"I know, come on, I'm taking you home." She said, guiding him towards the door.

"Do you mind if we stop for coffee first? I need something to keep me going. I'll buy you one too if you want."

JJ looked at him a little uncertain as they made their way outside.

"I don't know, I'm supposed to take you straight home. Can I trust you?" she asked as they got into one of the FBI SUVs.

"I promise, it'll be quick and I won't run off. If you're worried I can grab the coffee while you sit in here. You can trust me." He said as she started the engine and they began driving. JJ stayed quiet for a moment.

"Please…?" Cole asked, sounding a little like Aiden had a day earlier. This made JJ laugh.

"Ok, fine we'll get coffee."

They drove a little longer until JJ found a Starbucks. They pulled into a parking space and JJ went to undo her seatbelt when Cole put his hand on hers, stopping her. His fingers lightly traced hers and JJ felt a tingle shoot through her hand.

"I'll get it, stay here." He said, giving her a look that made the car feel a lot warmer than it had been a few seconds earlier. JJ finally unhooked her eyes from his gaze and pulled her hand away.

"Ok…but make it quick…if you run I'll track you down." JJ said as she tried to regain her composure.

"Don't worry, I won't." Cole smiled as he unhooked his belt and stepped out of the SUV.

"How do you want it?" he turned and asked her.

"I'm sorry?" she said, snapping herself out of the other world her head had just been in.

"How do you want your coffee?" Cole smiled charmingly.

"Uh, grande low-fat latte, two sugars."

"Got it." Cole closed the door and JJ watched him stride inside.

She knew she was going out on a limb in letting him go in there by himself. She couldn't see inside too well, especially if he stepped to the condiments station which he would have to do. She trusted he would do the right thing, though. He really seemed like a nice guy, he just wanted his sister back.

If she were in his shoes she would probably do all the same things he had done, she couldn't blame him. He hadn't given her a reason not to trust him, and she didn't think he would start now. Now, if only she could get her damn heart rate to come back down. She didn't know what it was about Cole, but he had a charming effect on her.

/

Cole entered the Starbucks, not too surprised to see there was a long line, even though it was after ten in the morning. The place was always busy. No matter, everything was going exactly as he had planned.

His heart was racing as his mind contemplated what he was doing. He felt kind of bad, Jennifer was really nice; he liked her, he really did. He knew what he was about to do could really _screw _her, especially if things went bad.

But for as much as he liked Jennifer, he loved his sister more. He would do anything for his sister, even if it meant doing this. Even if it meant momentarily making Jennifer happy, only to later make her job incredibly difficult and to never have her talk to him again; it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

Cole waited patiently, his hand instinctively going to the bottle in his jacket pocket. His fingers fiddled with the cap as he slowly made his way to the front of the counter. Finally, it was his turn to order. The barista made the coffees, took his money and he was off to the condiment station to finish their coffees.

As Cole made it to the station he took a quick glance outside, making sure Jennifer couldn't see him. When he was satisfied, he slipped his hand back into his pocket and pulled out a couple of pink pills from the bottle he had acquired from the drug store a day earlier.

Discreetly, he dumped the pills into her latte and stirred it in with her sugar until he was satisfied it would all be dissolved. He had never done something like this before, and while a part of him told him what he was about to do was very wrong, a stronger part of him told him that it was necessary.

He needed to distract Jennifer for a little while and what better way than this? It would satisfy them both. He wasn't going to hurt her after all. And, she didn't have a boyfriend and she was clearly attracted to him. He would help give her the release he was sure she hadn't experienced in a while.

All this would do was to help him to convince her to go along with what he wanted.

What he wanted first and foremost was his sister obviously, so he needed to distract Jennifer anyway. He was just going to use her attraction to him to his advantage for an hour or two; that was all. If things didn't work out the way he planned then he would stop. He wouldn't force things.

Cole looked around, glad that for a brief moment he was by himself at the condiment station. He reached back into his pocket, pulling out the bottle labeled "Women's Libido Enhancement" and chucked it into the garbage can, throwing some napkins in on top to help cover it.

He grabbed the two cups and walked to the door, making his way back to the SUV. He walked to the driver's side and JJ rolled down her window.

"See, I promised you I would come back." He smiled as he handed her the latte.

"My trust in you remains intact." She smiled back at him. She took a sip of her latte as Cole circled around to the passenger side. He opened his door and took his seat.

"How is it?" he asked after watching her take another sip.

"It's a little sweet, but it'll do, thanks." JJ replied as she put the SUV in gear.

"No problem." Cole answered, taking a sip of his own drink.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Thank you for the reviews and feedback. I don't really write just for reviews and I certainly don't expect people to review every chapter, so the reviews and feedback I do receive are certainly appreciated!**

The phone rang at the table as the team stood by, considering their different suspects.

"Hey Garcia, what's good?" Morgan asked as he answered it.

"Ok, so I looked into the histories of the four potential suspects I gave you. The first one, Jason League, was just recently married to his high school sweetheart about a month ago. He returned from his tour of duty about four months ago with a fractured leg and a pretty messed up knee…"

"You can stop there Garcia, our guy wouldn't be married." Emily broke in.

"Are you sure? How can you be so certain?" Harlan asked.

"Garcia, is Jason currently employed? Does he have kids?" Emily asked to prove her point.

"Uh…he is employed working for his wife's family and he has a two year old daughter, he appears to be a model citizen."

The rest of the profilers nodded knowingly.

"The guy who is doing this likely doesn't have a sound family structure or a pretty secure job. This man has a support system to help keep him from becoming delusional like our killer has become." Rossi explained to Harlan.

"We can put him off to the side for now, we need to focus on the most likely offenders." Morgan said as he grabbed the picture and put it to the side next to Thomas Riggo's.

"What can you tell us about Thomas Riggo, Garcia? We've been told he hasn't been to the gym in a while because he is due to have shoulder surgery." Spencer asked.

"Is that a recent injury? Because I have no record of that type of injury." Garcia asked as she began to search more thoroughly into the man.

"Yeah, apparently according to our source he hurt his shoulder a couple of weeks ago."

"Ok, let me just check the databases of the local hospitals…and cross check with shoulder surgeries either done recently or scheduled to occur soon…and…viola. Thomas Riggo had surgery at Mount Pleasant Hospital two days ago to repair a torn rotator cuff, so he almost certainly isn't your guy either." Garcia responded after some furious typing.

"Great, two down." Emily replied.

"How about the other two Garcia?" Hotchner asked.

"The last two men are both pretty similar. One, Chris Banks, is twenty-eight, has been home for about five months. He lives alone in his own house in a less upscale part of town. He has no marital records or any family nearby from what I can tell. He suffered multiple injuries as a result of an IED explosion including a fractured kneecap."

"Working status?" Rossi asked.

"He doesn't work, he's collecting disability. He's still recovering from his injuries and consistently goes to physical therapy provided by the VA."

"That still has some potential, man has a lot of free time." Morgan said as he looked at the others.

"The last guy, as I said, is very similar. Eric Jacobson, twenty-seven, has also been home for about five months and also lives alone. From what I can tell, he is actually more financially well off, owning a house on a good-sized plot of land on the outskirts of the city. He also inherited land from his parents who passed on. The land he inherited is actually on the other side of town, but again, similar to the one he owns himself. He has no other family, no marital status, no job as he too is collecting disability. According to military records he was shot and beaten when his team was ambushed. He survived along with two other members of his group, returned to action and finished his tour. He was given a psych evaluation, which states he suffers from PTSD, but otherwise he checked out." Garcia summarized to them.

"What do you think?" Harlan posed to them.

"I think if our profile is right, one of these two men has to be our guy. If we're wrong, then Christina Edwards is dead and we'll have to start again." Hotchner said bluntly.

"Either of these guys could just as logically be the unsub. As Garcia said they are both very similar. One is poorer which could also help be his trigger. The other has two plots of land, making it easier for him to hide what he is doing." Spencer said.

"We'll have to pay both of them visits. We'll need warrants to check both of their places." Hotchner looked at Harlan.

"I'll get on it." He nodded.

"Ok, the rest of us will split up. Morgan and Prentiss will go visit Chris Banks. Rossi and I will start at Eric Jacobson's." Hotchner said. The others nodded as Spencer stared at Hotch.

"Reid, you'll stay here and wait for Harlan. As soon as he has the warrants, one of you will come see us and the other will go to Morgan and Prentiss. In the meantime look through everything, reanalyze it all, make sure we aren't missing anything crucial. Garcia do you have the addresses?"

"Yes sir, I sent them to your PDAs."

"Great, thank you. Keep digging, see if there is anything else you can find on these guys that might help us."

"Will do, Garcia out."

"Hotch, I would start at Eric Jacobson's parents' lot first. It's actually located very close to where most of the dumpsites have been." Spencer said after he had looked at the addresses and matched them up to the map they had on the wall. Hotchner looked at where he was pointing on the map and nodded.

"Ok, that's where we will start then." Hotchner said to Rossi.

"We should take some back up just in case." Rossi suggested.

"Agreed, grab a couple of uniforms to follow us, make sure you tell them no sirens." Hotchner directed.

"Alright, let's go, the morning is slipping by quick."

/

Cole gave JJ directions as they drove back to the house he shared with Christina. A few minutes later and JJ had the SUV parked in the short driveway beside the house. They both walked up the walkway in silence. JJ took the time to glance around the neighborhood as she took a sip of her now half-full cup.

Cole had already finished his coffee, the lack of sleep and the nerves of the situation causing him to absently chug the entire cup on the drive over. He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door, holding it open so JJ could pass through first.

"Where's Aiden?" she asked as he closed and locked the door behind them.

"He's at daycare and then he'll be going back to Tracy's. It just seemed better for him. It's like a vacation, and it helps take his mind off his mom a little."

JJ nodded sympathetically as she took a big gulp of her latte. Cole threw away his empty cup in the garbage, then moved to take hers.

"Oh, I'm not done yet." She pulled back.

"You're still drinking? You've been nursing that cup for almost half an hour now." He teased her.

"No I haven't! I wouldn't want to burn myself."

"You can't when it's ice cold." Cole smiled.

JJ smirked a little, tilting the cup and downing the rest.

"There, happy?" she shoved the empty cup into his hand. Cole chuckled, throwing the cup away.

"Can I take your coat?" he offered as he shed his own.

"Oh, sure, thanks." JJ said as she slipped out of her coat and handed it to him. Cole met her eyes and nodded, before walking away to put their coats in the nearby coat closet.

As he did JJ made her way into the kitchen, her attention immediately drawn to the pictures stuck on the fridge. She couldn't help but to feel a little emotional at the site of some of the pictures. One of Aiden playfully smiling, one of Aiden and Christina together, one of Aiden, Christina and Cole together like a happy family. It was both heartwarming and depressing in the same breath.

"That one's my favorite." Cole startled her a little when he reentered the room. He pointed to the one with Christina playing in the backyard with Aiden. JJ looked at him and she could tell he was trying to keep from crying again.

"I still remember the day this was taken so clearly. They were both so happy. It was only three months ago."

"Why aren't you in it?" JJ asked, meeting his eyes.

"I…I'm not in the picture because I'm the one who took it." His voice cracked as he stared at the picture.

"Oh…I'm sorry." JJ apologized.

She closed the distance between them and pulled him in for a hug. She couldn't help it, he needed the comfort. And if she were going to be honest with herself, she felt rather fragile at that moment as well. She prayed her team would come through.

/

"Excuse me sir, maybe _you _could help me?"

Spencer turned around from the bulletin board full of case work on it at the sound of the voice. He almost sputtered at the site of the attractive, well dressed, brunette who smiled at him shyly.

"Who? Uh…me?"

"Yeah, you, if you don't mind. You're from the FBI right?" she asked as her eyes appraised him and fixed upon his badge.

"I…I am. How did you…" Spencer furrowed his brow. The woman nodded at his badge.

"The badge." She smiled warmly.

"Oh, yeah, of course."

'Idiot' he thought to himself. He needed to stop being so flustered. After a moment of awkward silence the woman cleared her throat and stepped closer, her eyes scanning the case board.

"Wow, a lot of stuff going on there, looks kind of gross." She commented.

"Uh…it is. I'm sorry, who are you? I don't know if you should be here." Spencer said as his rational mind started to catch up. The woman looked at him and chuckled.

"Hey, you guys called me, so I guess I should be here." She said as she typed something into her blackberry.

"Again, I'm sorry, but who called you here?"

The woman looked up from her blackberry, looking him up and down with her eyes confidently. Spencer felt his face flush and his knees weaken. The woman paused, before answering.

"I don't know to be honest with you, they were kind of vague. They told me they needed me down here right away because there was a serial killer on the loose and people were in danger. I don't like being here anymore than you want me here to be honest, these things gross me out." The woman said as she went back to typing.

"What? I don't…understand. And what makes you think I don't want you here?" Spencer stuttered, becoming increasingly confused.

"Oh I can tell. You are mighty uncomfortable with me being here, you're fidgeting." She laughed without looking up.

Spencer felt his face turn pink again. He had no idea what was going on. His head was spinning and he didn't have a clue as to who this woman was, he needed to pull himself together and quick. He glanced up and down her, looking for any sort of badge or identification that would help tell him who she was. Suddenly she turned to him, catching him in mid-look. She smiled slyly.

"Are you checking me out?" she raised her eyebrow.

"What! No, I…I wasn't I was just…trying to…" he felt his face turn beat red.

"Just trying to what?"

"Uh…who are you?"

"Stop changing the subject, were you checking me out?" she said to him more firmly.

"No! I wouldn't…do that…" he stuttered as she raised her eyebrow again.

"Are you saying I'm ugly?"

"No! Not at all you're quite pretty actually I just…"

"Wow the person who called me is right, you guys are rather confused aren't you?" she chuckled, loving every second of making him squirm.

"What? That doesn't make any sense who called you?" Spencer felt his nerves rattle but also his frustration level almost reach its breaking point.

"I guess you should've known that now shouldn't you have? Obviously someone screwed up so I'm just going to go, this is getting incredibly awkward." She said as she slipped her blackberry into her pocket.

"Please, I'm sorry, I don't know who called you here."

"No kidding, call me if you figure it out." She said as she began to walk away.

"Wait, who called you?" Spencer called after her.

"I don't know, they just said their name was 'Reid'. If you know someone named Reid then go talk to them about it and get back to me when you guys aren't so confused over here." She said, pushing through the door and exiting the precinct.

'Reid'? What the hell was going on? Spencer was thoroughly confused, but he also knew something wasn't right. He needed to go after that woman, someone was playing games.

"Hey, wait a minute!" he tried, rushing out the door after her.

Spencer reached the sidewalk, frantically scouring the surrounding area. He was unsuccessful, the woman had disappeared. He stood there in the middle of the sidewalk for a moment, completely puzzled as to who she could've been. Suddenly he was snapped out of it by Harlan approaching, a look of trouble on his face.

"What's wrong?" Spencer asked.

"It's a no go on the warrants, not enough evidence."

Spencer looked at him shocked.

"What do you mean not enough evidence?"

"I mean, there is not enough physical evidence to get a warrant. The guy used gloves or cleaned the bodies, so we couldn't match finger prints and the rest of it is considered circumstantial. They're being particularly difficult given these guys are wounded military. Your team is going to have to interview them and pray they don't have alibis and come up with some sort of solid evidence."

"That could take the rest of the day, the profile says we don't have more than a day left."

"I know, I said as much. The court doesn't want to hear about profile, they want evidence. If we go in there after those two guys and they both turn out to be innocent, it'll be a major story and a big black mark, nobody wants their name on that." Harlan explained.

"I'll call Hotch." Spencer said, pulling out his phone as they re-entered the precinct.

/

Elizabeth Marcum smiled as she watched the FBI agent and the Detective head back into the precinct. She put the key into the ignition of her car and pulled on her seatbelt.

She knew what she had done was ballsy, but Eric had sent her down there for a purpose and sure enough it had proven to be worth it. He was going to be pleased when she told him. Elizabeth dialed Eric's number and he answered on the second ring.

"So…was my source right?"

Elizabeth chuckled.

"Oh yeah, he was right on target. The FBI is here and they are definitely looking into what appears to be a serial killer. I typed a bunch of stuff into my blackberry that I'll send to you for the story, some of it just confirms what your source said, some of it gives us even more to work with."

"Great job Elizabeth. What are you doing now?"

"I'm on my way to the gym Running Success to press the manager. You should have a hell of a story come noontime."

"That's what I love to hear." Eric smiled.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Posting this slightly earlier than I wanted to. While the last chapter seemed to post fine, I think there may have been some issues. If you were able to read chapter 11, nothing has changed. If you weren't able to read it, hopefully you can now. The action is picking up finally, and hopefully I'm meeting my goal in keeping you all in suspense about where things are going and what might happen next. Again, I promise this isn't JJ/OC for the JJ parts, to those of you who may be worried/don't like that sort of thing.**

Hotchner and Rossi pulled off the road and drove down the dirt driveway to the house once owned by Eric Jacobson's parents. About ten feet from the house Hotchner stopped their SUV and the two officers following in the car behind them stopped as well.

The lot had been cleared of much of the trees and brush that normally would have been there. This had given the family a rather large yard, although the grass was rather sparse. In the middle of the yard sat a two story house with what was likely an underground basement, and a small shed was located on the far side of the yard near the tree line. In front of them sat a parked pickup that couldn't have been more than a couple of years old.

They unbuckled their seatbelts and were about to step out when Hotchner's phone rang.

"Hotchner."

"Hotch, it's Reid. We have a problem, we couldn't get the warrants on the grounds that we don't have enough physical evidence that is actually linked to our suspects."

"What? Did that come straight from the judge?"

"It did. They're being extra tough considering who our suspects are according to Detective Harlan, nobody wants to stick their neck out."

Hotchner sighed, rubbing his temple as they began to approach the house, their eyes scanning the area.

"We don't have time to be playing these types of games. They realize someone is about to die don't they?"

"Hotch, I know, I've already been through all this as well, Harlan isn't too happy either. I'm going through everything we have to see if we can make something stick, but you are going to have to talk to the suspect or find more evidence as it stands right now." Spencer explained. Hotchner had continued walking up the pathway, not realizing that Rossi had stopped at the truck.

"Alright Reid, we'll see what we can do, I might have to go talk to the judge myself." He said with a hint of frustration.

"I understand. Also Hotch, there was something else…"

"Hotch, you better come see this." Rossi called over.

"Hang on Reid, Rossi's calling me." Hotchner walked to the back of the pickup where everyone else had gathered.

"What is it Dave?" he asked as he circled around.

"Take a look for yourself." Rossi said, pointing to the tarps in the back of the truck.

"Reid, I'm going to have to call you back, I think we just found what we're looking for." Hotchner said as he stared at the back of the truck.

/

"I'm done arguing with you, now get to your feet!" Christina's captor yelled at her.

She had tried and tried and tried some more to convince him to stop, to let her go, to humanize herself to him. None of it worked, he couldn't be swayed. Now he was just plain pissed off at all the time she had made him waste by arguing with her.

Christina began the painful process of standing again. It was harder and more tortuous every time he made her do it. Soon, she was on her feet as the man roughly grabbed her shoulder and led her from the room.

Christina felt her heart begin to beat more quickly as she was led down the hallway again. She tried her hardest to memorize the layout of everything she saw, just in case by any slim chance she would be able to escape. They made it to the end of the hallway and to a set of stairs. Christina visibly hesitated, feeling uneasy that her ankles were still tied and yet he expected her to navigate her way down the stairs.

"Come on, move." He ordered as he pushed her shoulder.

"Untie my ankles, I might fall otherwise." She protested.

"Start moving or I'll push you down them, your choice." He answered darkly.

Timidly, Christina moved to the first step. She took a deep breath after successfully making it down to the first step. Slowly, she made it down the next couple, focusing all of her concentration on not falling.

"You're going too slow, pick up the pace." He ordered her as he applied pressure to her shoulder.

"I'm going to fall dammit!" she turned and yelled at him, the stress of the situation overpowering the logic that told her not to piss him off. She made it down another step before he could respond.

"You're stalling, quit wasting my time!" he yelled at her.

Christina felt the breath catch in her throat as she felt him give her a push. She tried with all her might to stay balanced as she hopped down the next step, two steps from the landing which would mark the halfway point on the staircase.

She turned sideways as she tried to counteract the force of the push and stay on her feet. She stumbled, turning her ankle as she fell, landing awkwardly on the landing as her shoulder painfully crashed into the wall. She gasped in pain as she felt her shoulder bruise and her ankle throb. She remained leaning against the wall, unmoving as her captor grabbed her and pulled her up.

"Stop screwing around, let's go!" he spat in her face.

"Please, just untie my ankles until we make it down the stairs." She pleaded.

"No chance." He said simply.

"What do you think is going to happen? I just turned my ankle! I'm going to fall!" Christina argued back, the frustration overwhelming her.

"You're really worried about falling?" he asked as he looked at her, his face even.

"Yes." Christina responded quietly. There was an awkward pause and for a brief moment, she wished she knew what he was thinking.

"Well, let me save you the trouble." He said, grabbing her abruptly around the neck.

"No! Please!" Christina cried frantically as he pushed her towards the next set of stairs. With a hard push Christina let out a scream as she was sent tumbling down the rest of the staircase.

/

Once Cole had settled down and JJ felt recomposed, she pulled away. Her body was filled with warmth and when she met his broken eyes, desire filled her. She wished there was more she could do to help him, to take his pain away, to put his mind elsewhere while her team found Christina. He looked so sad, so broken, as if he had almost been resigned to the fact that Christina wasn't coming back. She had tried to convince him otherwise, but it almost didn't seem to matter anymore.

Cole kept his eyes locked on hers, almost daring her to look away. She felt like he could see through her, like he could see her deepest thoughts. Finally, she had to look away, her body heat rising from the intense look he had given her.

"It's kind of warm in here." She said to no one in particular as she shed her suit jacket and draped it over one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

Cole glued his eyes to her body, looking her up and down. He could do this; he was going to do this. His nerves had retreated some and his mind was almost solely focused on the woman in front of him.

'If not for you, for Christina.' He told himself.

He needed to keep her distracted long enough for the media to grab the story and run with it. So that when her team called, Jennifer would be running containment rather than out right denying that a killer was on the loose. JJ turned around and froze when she saw his eyes glued to her.

"What…?" she asked uncomfortably.

"Nothing, you're just really pretty." He said almost matter-of-factly.

JJ felt her face flush a little. What was it about this guy that made her head spin? That turned her on so much? She didn't know, besides the fact that he _was _exceedingly attractive and she felt an emotional connection to him because of all the pain she had seen him in.

"Uh, thanks. You're pretty handsome yourself." JJ smiled awkwardly.

"You're just saying that. I meant what I said, you're gorgeous."

"No…no, I meant it too." She stuttered a little.

"Did you, really?" he asked as he reached out and stroked her cheek, his thumb teasing a strand of her hair.

"Yes…" JJ whispered as she leaned into his touch.

"You're not playing games with me are you?" Cole said softly, trailing his thumb lightly from her cheek to the edge of her lips.

"Never…" JJ whispered again, his hand causing tingles through her body as her knees began to feel weak.

He pushed her bottom lip down with his thumb, moving in to claim her lips with his. JJ closed her eyes, and Cole kissed her as he pulled her body closer to him.

At first she let him, caught by surprise both at what was happening, and at herself for letting it happen. But then she pulled her head away, putting an abrupt end to the kiss.

"What are you doing?"

Cole smiled, keeping his hands around her.

"You're here to distract me aren't you?" he looked into her eyes, his thumb tracing along the bottom hem of her blouse as his fingers ran along her butt.

JJ felt a rush of emotion come over her. She didn't know what it was, but she felt desire bubbling up inside of her. She _wanted_ him, she was turned on; even if she couldn't entirely explain it. She didn't do _this_. She didn't do things like this especially while on a case.

JJ met his eyes and felt another chill run down her spine. Cole chuckled, knowing she was torn, but also that she likely wouldn't stop him. She was vulnerable and he was going to pounce.

"So distract me." He said seductively, his hand now firmly squeezing her butt as he pulled her in for another kiss.

/

Hotchner stared at the tarps piled in the back of the truck, blood visibly pooled on them.

"I'd say it's safe to say we know how he transports and hides the bodies." Rossi said.

"He could be a hunter, just a thought." One of the police officers spoke up. Hotchner pondered this for a moment.

"It's possible. Call back to the precinct please; tell them we need a crime scene tech out here as soon as possible. I'm going to call Garcia." He said as he dialed his phone.

"Hello again bossman, what can I do for you?" she answered.

"Garcia, I need you to check and see if Eric Jacobson has a hunting license or any type of hunting history what so ever."

"Yes sir, just give me a moment." Garcia answered as she began to furiously type away.

"Okay…Eric Jacobson had a hunting license, key word had, three years ago. He has since failed to renew it so there's your answer. Besides that, I don't have any other recent history of him hunting."

"Ok great, thank you Garcia." Hotchner said as he hung up the phone.

"The crime scene techs should be here in twenty minutes or so." The officer responded as he walked over.

"Alright, good. As far as we know Eric Jacobson doesn't have any recent hunting history, he hasn't had a license for three years." Hotchner informed the others.

"So what do you suggest we do?" the other officer asked.

"We'll go up to the house, see if anyone is home. If no one is, then we'll canvas the area and find out what we can. Unfortunately we can't go in without a warrant, which we won't get until we know what the blood belongs to." Hotchner explained as the others nodded.

"Don't draw your weapon until there is a threat, but be ready and alert." Rossi ordered as they cautiously approached the house.

Hotchner led the way to the door and looked to the others to confirm that they were ready. When they all acknowledged that they were, he knocked on the door. After waiting a moment and getting no response, he tried again.

"Eric Jacobson, my name is Aaron Hotchner, if you're there I would just like to talk to you."

After waiting another moment, he knocked one more time without a response.

"I don't think anyone is home." He said finally.

"He must have two cars then. One he keeps here and one at his house." Rossi speculated.

"Most likely." Hotchner nodded.

"Let's spread out and look around." He told the others.

They made their way around the property, all taking in every detail while also keeping a close eye on each other in case there was a sudden attack. Hotchner circled closely around the house peering through the windows to try to get a layout of the house and see if anyone were hiding. From what little he could see, Hotchner surmised that the house wasn't lived in much as the living area was rather sparse and empty. Eric Jacobson wasn't there, and he most likely spent very little time there, this was his back-up place.

As Hotchner turned to find the others, he watched from a distance as Rossi drew his gun and cautiously opened the door to the shed. Slowly, Rossi entered the tight, dimly lit shed. After a moment he came back out, holding a couple of objects in his hand. They were tools and they had what looked like dried blood on them.

"Potentially have some more evidence here." Rossi announced as they all gathered around in the middle of the yard.

"That definitely looks like blood." One of the officers commented.

"I don't think you'd usually use these tools for hunting, do you?" Rossi posed to the others.

They all stared, possibilities running rampant through their minds. The sound of a car's tires coming down the driveway towards them grabbed their attention.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Slightly longer chapter, next update should be Wednesday, please feel free to review!**

Christina groaned as she tried to roll over onto her back. Her head was pounding and her vision swimming as she tried to regain her bearings. She felt a warm trickle trailing from her forehead and down the side of her face. Her body hurt, even more than it had before which she hadn't thought would be possible.

"That was a nasty spill, you should've listened to me." The man said as he knelt down beside her.

Christina tried to look at him, but he looked blurry from what little she could see. She mumbled something that she thought made sense, but when he didn't respond she guessed that it hadn't. Her brain wasn't functioning right, she probably had a concussion.

"Damn, look at you, you're getting blood on my floor." He exclaimed after he pulled her head from the floor.

"Get up! You're bleeding everywhere." He ordered as he pulled on her hair.

Christina tried to stand, but she felt too weak. She couldn't focus, she didn't know what was happening.

"Get up!" he yanked on her hair again. When she didn't move, he kicked her in the gut. Christina flinched and gasped, but she still didn't move.

"How pathetic, you're giving up already. So much for living for your son, that didn't last long." He taunted.

"Don't talk about my son!" she grunted out in fury.

"What's it matter to you, you're obviously ready to give up, you couldn't even make it down the fucking stairs!" he continued to taunt.

"You pushed me."

"Not my fault you couldn't hold your balance. You didn't do what I told you."

"I tried." Christina choked out weakly.

"Well you didn't try hard enough." He chuckled. "I think you're ready for me to end you." He reached down and grabbed her by the throat, squeezing her wind pipe.

"Please, no, I'm not ready." She gasped for air.

"I don't believe you." He squeezed harder, feeling the air leave her.

"Give…me…another…chance."

"I don't think you've earned it."

"Please…"

The unsub considered his options as he held his grip around her throat. It would be fun to see how much farther he could push her. It would also be a pain in the ass to dump her and find someone else so soon. According to his schedule she still had the rest of the day, he had nothing else better to do. Maybe she could still prove him wrong and outlast the others, even if he doubted it. Finally, he released her, sending her back down to the floor gasping for air.

"Ok, prove me wrong, get up." He ordered as he looked down at her.

He watched intently as she struggled to her feet, whimpering in pain when she put too much wait on her sore ankle. Finally she stood unsteadily in front of him, a defiant glare on her face even though one of her eyes remained swollen shut. His lips curled up into a smile at the site of her. She was one determined woman, he would give her that.

"Ok, let's walk." He said as he put his hand on her sore shoulder and led her once again.

They made their way through a couple of rooms before he opened a door leading to a dark staircase. Christina's heart dropped. She felt like she was going to hyperventilate. She couldn't do this again, especially not after last time. The man reached over her to flick on the light switch.

"Come on, let's go." He ordered as he pressed into her back.

The stairs were unfinished and wooden, and they were steeper than the previous staircase. Christina knew she had to make it down the stairs without falling or being pushed. She had no doubt that at the bottom of the stairs was a concrete floor as the basement looked unfinished just like the stairs.

Christina took a deep breath, knowing she was about to feel some intense pain, but knowing that she didn't have a choice. After a few more seconds passed she hopped down the first stair. Tears trickled down her face and her legs became more and more weak as she hopped down each sequential step.

On the third from the bottom it felt as though her ankle was going to give out. She pushed through it, picturing Aiden. She was doing this for him she reminded herself. Finally, she made it to the bottom, tears streaming down her face while she sweated profusely.

"That was impressive, good girl." The unsub whispered as he pushed her forward.

Christina felt like she could barely move, all her strength was sapped. The man continued to lead her across the room, seemingly not noticing. They stopped in front of a heavy metal door, and Christina could only dread what was behind it.

"Here is your next test." He said as he opened the door to the walk-in freezer. She immediately began to shiver as the cold air hit her.

"You'll stay in here until I'm done setting up your next test." He explained as he pushed her in, not worried that she could get into trouble as her arms and legs were still tied.

Christina wanted to argue, wanted to plead with him, but she was too sore, too exhausted, and she knew it wouldn't make any difference. As the door locked and the cold darkness enveloped her, she could only wonder how long she would be made to stay in the frozen room.

/

JJ let go of some of her inhibitions and kissed Cole back. Even though it was against her better judgment and went against rational wisdom. She gave into her rising desires.

Cole pressed himself closer as they continued to kiss. He ran his hand through her long hair as she reached down and stroked his chest; their lips dueling for dominance. Eventually, they had to stop to gather their breath.

"Wow, you're good." He grinned, his hands behind both of her ears, cupping her head.

"You're not so bad either." JJ breathed, her body wanting more but her brain making her hesitate. He continued to stroke her hair.

"How about I show you the rest of the house?" he smiled at her.

JJ hesitated for a moment, more than aware of where this was leading, that she was giving into her baser desires. She was torn, this wasn't what she did. This went against everything she stood for. Between the stress of the case, her worries for Aiden growing up motherless, memories of her own sister's death, and Cole's own pain, this presented the perfect escape, if only for a short time. After a moment, she bit her lip.

"Cole, I can't, we can't. As much as I want to, this just isn't right, this isn't me." She backed away from him. Cole approached her anyway, taking a step forward for every step she took back.

"I don't understand, are you messing with me right now?"

"No, no. I would never…it's just…maybe after the case, not right now." She struggled, her body now backed against the kitchen wall by the doorway. Cole kept encroaching anyway, pressing his body into hers, pressing her into the wall.

"Cole…please." JJ whispered as he cupped her face, their eyes frozen on each other.

"I know you want this…stop being so guarded." He whispered into her hair as he turned her head and kissed her neck.

JJ felt tingles run through her body as his hand slid under her blouse, his fingers lightly dancing on her stomach. She gasped out loud and arched into him when he unexpectedly plunged one of his fingers into her navel.

"Cole…" she breathed.

"I want you." He groaned between planting furious kisses on her neck.

"After the case, maybe." She tried again.

"I know you want this, Jennifer, you want me. I saw it in your eyes the first time we met." He smiled.

"What do you want from me?" she gasped as he pressed himself into her.

"For you to say yes. I need this, take my mind off of things for a little while." He whispered, his breath heavy.

JJ felt herself on the verge of caving to him. She was so turned on, it would be so easy to just say yes. Cole tried to persuade her with another dominant kiss on the lips. His fingers carefully began to unbutton her blouse from the bottom up. JJ didn't notice until the kiss broke and she felt the air on her exposed stomach.

"Tell me yes." He whispered into her throat as his hand gripped her butt once more.

/

The group turned to see who was coming down the driveway towards them. It was the crime scene techs which meant thankfully they should have some answers soon. The group greeted the two young men as they stepped out of their vehicle carrying a briefcase full of tools. Hotchner immediately directed them to the back of the truck, while Rossi grabbed a few plastic bags to put the bloody tools in.

"What do you think?" Hotchner asked one of the techs after a few minutes.

"Well what I'm doing now is a quick field test. It won't give us a lot of answers until we get the samples back to the lab. However, if you asked me to speculate, I would guess that the blood is indeed human."

"How do you know?" Hotchner asked, curious.

"Well it's hard to tell simply by looking at it. Generally human blood and animal blood have similar coloring and consistencies. However, if you actually test the blood, the bacteria and antigen structure within the blood is different, which is why different types of animals have different types of blood types, just like humans." The tech explained.

"So the field test came back as human?" Hotchner questioned.

"Based off the results we have so far, yes. But it is a crude test and it is prone to inaccuracies at times. Especially if a person was to have suffered a cut or something, and the human blood mixed with the animal's blood, we've seen it before with hunters."

"How soon until you can have a definitive answer?"

"It shouldn't be too long, once we get back to the lab. Once there, we can run more detailed tests and also compare the blood to your victims' blood to see if there are any matches."

Hotchner nodded.

"Good, please do so as fast as possible, we're really short on time." Hotchner explained.

"I understand. We have our samples. We'll just pack up the tarp and we should be good to go."

As the techs finished their work, Hotchner walked back over to Rossi.

"What do you think Dave?"

"I think Eric Jacobson is our man, you?"

"I think it's looking pretty good. Call Morgan and Prentiss, tell them to meet us back at the precinct. As soon as we get the results back, we should be able to get a warrant and go after this guy."

"Are we all set here?" One of the officers walked over and asked.

"Actually, I need you both to stay here in case Eric Jacobson comes back when we leave. If he does, take him in for questioning. Be on guard, if he sees you he may try to attack you, although he'll be more likely to run."

"And if he does attack us?"

"Use whatever force is necessary to bring him down, but don't kill him. We still need to be able to find Christina if she isn't with him." Both officers nodded their understanding. Hotchner turned back to Rossi as he hung up his phone.

"Let's go Dave." Hotchner said as they walked back to their SUV.

"Morgan and Prentiss met with Chris Banks. He claims to have an alibi that one of his friends there corroborated. They called the precinct and the locals are looking into the details of his story. In the mean time they were able to get Harlan to station two officers to surveill Banks' house and follow his movements."

Hotchner started the engine and backed the SUV out of the driveway.

"We're getting close Dave, I know it."

/

Cole moved his lips off JJ's throat, moving to her cheek, down her jaw and to the tip of her chin.

"You taste so good." He mumbled into her skin as he continued to ravish her.

JJ was getting close to losing her self control. She let his lips wander as she tried to regroup herself. She hadn't really expected this, although if she had paid a little more attention then she knew she really shouldn't be so surprised this was happening.

JJ had always been a little awkward when it came to guys, she didn't know why. She had a hard time of reading what their true intentions were, they were sneaky. It didn't help that she had a soft spot for people, and sometimes it was taken the wrong way or led her into situations like this. Never on a case though, this was a first.

Now, although she _really_ wanted to give in to him, to get the release she hadn't experienced in a while, she knew she couldn't. She knew it would cause problems and make things impossibly complicated. So she planted her hands firmly on his shoulders, using just enough strength to push him back a couple inches so she could slide out from beneath his grasp and walk away.

As he watched her walk away flustered, Cole felt a desire to keep trying, he wasn't one to give up easy. He knew she was being difficult, and he was impressed that she was so strong willed. But he also knew that if what he gave her worked, then she wouldn't be able to resist him forever, it was only a matter of time. He just had to build her up a little more. Following her, he reached out and placed his hand firmly on her shoulder.

"Cole…" she started as he pulled her hair to the side and pulled the collar of her blouse back.

She whimpered as he placed his lips on her skin and sucked on the base of her neck. As he sucked firmly, his teeth grazing her, JJ knew it was going to leave a mark. Luckily it was in a spot where her blouse would hide it.

"Cole, stop." She said a bit more firmly as she pulled away from him again.

Her hands went to her blouse. Her fingers moved to redo the buttons he had opened when he reached around her again, pulling her into him.

"Why?" he asked as his fingers took the button from between her fingers, stopping her.

"I'm not like this, I don't do this." Her voice quivered as his free hand gently trailed down her taut stomach towards her waist.

"I don't doubt that. But you were giving me these signals, I thought this was different." He said as they moved towards the couch. JJ sighed, this was going to be hard to explain to him, she thought.

"Cole, I do find you attractive. I really do. I also feel for your situation, more than you realize. I know what it's like to worry about a sibling…to lose a sibling." Her voice trailed off softly.

"Do you want to talk about it? You listened to my story, the least I can do is listen to yours." He offered, seeing an opening for opportunity.

"It's a long story." JJ answered dismissively, wishing she hadn't blurted out the sibling part.

"We have plenty of time, I'm not going anywhere obviously." He tried as he helped her take a seat on the couch.

He sat down beside her, his hand lightly stroking her hair. This time JJ didn't move to stop him. She was too torn by her conflicting and overwhelming emotions she had for Cole, for the memories of her sister, everything.

"I'm sorry, I just don't like to talk about it. Just know I lost my sister when I was young, I know some of what you're going through." She turned to look at him, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes.

"Was it…was it like my sister's situation?" Cole asked, pressing for her to answer. JJ shook her head no.

"Hey, Jennifer, you can tell me. I want to be here for you like you were for me." He said softly, stroking her cheek.

JJ took an uneven breath, unsure of why she was going to give him the answer he wanted, why he would care. This was personal, it was private. But maybe if she could tell him, it would help them both. She wasn't sure what she was thinking or what she was doing. What was compelling her to do this, to open herself up to him, a man she hardly knew? She felt so vulnerable at that moment.

"She committed suicide." JJ finally blurted out as she pushed back more tears.

"Damn…I'm so sorry." Cole answered quietly. "I can't imagine what that's like."

"Please, I don't want to talk about it anymore." JJ said softly.

"Then we won't. At least now I understand where you are coming from." He said as he ran his fingers slowly through her hair. She remained silent, too focused on trying to stay strong and to keep from crying.

"Just know Jennifer, it's not your fault." Cole offered as he tried to console her. She turned to meet his eyes and smiled slightly.

"I know, thank you. Whatever happens to your sister, hopefully you will realize that too." JJ replied as they sat together in an emotional, awkward silence.

Cole moved his hand from her hair to her cheek, and around to her chin, caressing her face.

"I'll help take away your pain if you help take away mine." He whispered as he stared into her eyes.

JJ felt her resolve begin to waver again. She felt her walls beginning to crack. He moved in, his lips only an inch from hers. As they breathed each other in, Cole pressed his lips to hers. JJ melted into his touch, kissing him back. The alarms in her brain went off, telling her to stop as her body told her it needed more.

"Please, I need you, Jennifer." Cole said seductively, breaking the kiss.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: I realize the JJ scene might seem a little drawn out these last few chapters. I did that mostly in an attempt to convey the emotional turmoil between the two characters as well as the side emotions behind the case. I intended this to be more of a team-centric fic, though obviously it's become a bit more JJ centric than I thought it would. Oh well.**

The team gathered again back at the precinct. Hotchner and Rossi were the last to arrive and as soon as Reid spotted them he ran over.

"Hotch, we have a problem."

"What is it Reid?" he asked, feeling a sense of dread.

"We just received a call from Ronald Curry and he wasn't too happy. He said a woman stopped by his gym saying the FBI had sent her there. It quickly became apparent to him that this wasn't the case when she started asking probing questions and suggested that he was helping to harbor a serial killer and failed his civic duty of reporting such a person." Hotchner rubbed his temple as Reid continued.

"They got into a verbal altercation at the end of which the woman told Curry to watch the news. As soon as it was over Curry called the precinct irate saying he was holding us personally responsible if his business was hurt by this and that he couldn't believe we would do this to him. He's threatening legal action."

"Do we know who the woman is?" Rossi asked.

"Uh…maybe, Curry's description of her sounded kind of familiar."

"Familiar how?"

Reid hesitated, not particularly wanting to divulge what had happened to him earlier.

"Uh…shortly after you all left…a woman stopped by saying that we had called her here. I tried to question her about who she was and what she was doing but she was…uh…evasive. She…um…saw our board and saw some of the case details. When I pressed her she uh…said someone named 'Reid' had called her here and then she ran out before I could stop her." Reid looked between the two men, knowing by the looks on their faces that they weren't happy.

"I…I chased her outside, but she disappeared, I had no idea who she was."

"Dammit Reid, she saw our case board and you don't know who she was?" Hotchner said evenly, trying to hold his anger in.

"I'm sorry Hotch, I turned around and she was standing there. I tried to find out who she was, and I chased her…I asked around the precinct, the only officer who saw her said she's uh…news reporter." Reid cringed as he finished, knowing this would only make Hotch angrier.

"A news reporter Reid?"

"I'm sorry Hotch, really I am, I didn't know."

Hotchner paced around for a second, regaining his composure as he thought things through.

"It's ok Reid, I knew the media would get this story eventually. I just hope it doesn't provoke our unsub. I'm more upset that she saw the case details, that's dangerous."

"I know we need to move quickly." Reid nodded gingerly.

"Hotch you should see this." Emily called from across the room. Hotchner walked over to the table where the rest of the group was watching the flat screen TV on the wall.

"That's right Andrew; it appears there is a potential serial killer in Portland, targeting the local gym Running Success. While the local police are working the case, the FBI is also in town to assist. As far as we know, there have been at least four victims so far. While we have yet to receive an official statement from the FBI or the local police department, we hope to have one by the five o'clock news." The team watched as the woman spoke across the street from Running Success.

"Hotch, that's her, that's the woman that was here." Reid spoke up excitedly when he saw the woman. At the bottom of the screen a name plate appeared, _Elizabeth Marcum._

"We are told that there are a few suspects and leads that law enforcement is following, but we would advice the public to be on guard until we have more information at five. Live from downtown Portland, Elizabeth Marcum." The woman finished before signing off.

"Well our job just got a lot harder." Morgan said as he looked at the others.

"Detective Harlan, you should assign some of your officers to work answering the phones." Rossi suggested.

"Is that really necessary? We're already stretched a little thin with patrols and some of the guys we already assigned to surveillance."

"You're likely going to get inundated with calls any minute from the media, panicked people, etc. It's going to get hectic quick." Reid replied. Harlan rolled his eyes.

"Wilkins! Get some men and put them on the phones, make sure they know how to reassure people that we are doing all that we can. Make sure they don't leak any case information either." Harlan called over a young man and directed him. The man nodded and moved quickly to do as ordered.

"Prentiss, call JJ tell her we need her back here." Hotchner directed. "Detective, we're going to need to send an officer to relieve JJ."

"I figured, I'll have Wilkins send someone." Harlan said. "I can't believe Marcum slipped in here."

"Has she done something like this before?" Rossi asked.

"She's driven, but no she never has. The only way she would've known about this is if someone tipped her off or called her as Reid claimed."

"Who could've tipped them off?" Morgan asked.

"It's too late to be worried about that now. We need to focus on getting the results of the blood back so we can get the warrant and hopefully get Jacobson. Let JJ handle Marcum and the media when she gets here." Rossi said.

"JJ's not answering her phone Hotch; I tried more than once, nothing. I left her a message." Prentiss said as she rejoined everyone, looking worried.

"You don't think something happened to her with Cole do you? She's always attached to that phone." Reid asked, himself worried.

"Cole doesn't seem like the type to do something." Morgan answered.

"You never know how people will react when they are stressed and feel cornered. Cole is desperate to get his sister back, who knows." Rossi said, voicing the possibility they knew but were scared to acknowledge.

"I agree with Morgan, he doesn't seem like the type. Detective Harlan, I need a rush on that officer going to Cole's." Hotchner said.

"I'll get someone myself." He said before walking away.

"Hotch, I think maybe one of us should go too, just in case." Emily offered.

"Emily, that's not necessary. We need you here. We should get the results of the blood any minute and we need as many people available as possible. The officer Harlan is sending is more than capable of handling things."

"But Hotch, what if something really is wrong? What if JJ's in trouble or the officer needs back up?" Emily pushed. Hotchner grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side, out of the earshot of the others.

"Emily, I know you're worried about JJ, but she's fine, she's capable. I'll admit I find it strange that JJ didn't answer and I'm a little worried too, but I need you to focus. I need you here." Hotchner said as he stared at her.

"Hotch…" she tried to protest.

"Listen, we're stretched thin now that we have to deal with the media and a potential panic. I need as many people possible to go after Jacobson if it's him, and if it isn't him then we're going to have to re-do the profile. I need you here. I know you were worried about putting JJ with Cole from the start, but I wouldn't put her in a situation I didn't think she could handle."

"There's just something about him that makes me a little uneasy."

"I know, Rossi felt the same way and I already talked to him about it too. We already profiled Cole, we thoroughly dug into his background and history. He doesn't have a violent history and he has no connections to Jacobson, ok?" Hotchner looked at her.

He watched Emily bite her lip as she was deep in thought. Finally, she nodded, even if his words had hardly put her at ease.

/

JJ leaned into the couch as their lips met again.

Cole put his arms under her body, shifting her so she was lying on her back while he was on top of her. He was convinced that he had finally gotten her to let her guard down. This was it, he had her right where he wanted her.

JJ moaned and arched into him when his tongue entered her mouth. She was slowly getting lost in him. Her emotions, her fears, her focus, were all falling by the wayside.

One of Cole's hands traveled up her body, pushing her blouse up with it. His hand stopped on her breast and gave it a light squeeze while the other tangled itself in her hair. So many things were happening at once, he was seemingly everywhere all at once while she kept her hands safely on his upper back, unwilling or unable to move.

Cole moved his hand out of her hair and brought it to her shirt again. He pulled the material away from her neck and off the end of her shoulder.

"Cole…" JJ gasped as he sank his teeth gently into the flesh of her shoulder. He merely grunted in response as his hand remained gently on her breast. He kissed her shoulder before sinking his teeth into it again as JJ groaned.

Cole pulled away, taking his hands off her long enough to pull his shirt off and toss it aside. He watched as JJ stared as his body. When she didn't make an attempt to move, he gently grabbed a hold of her small hand and brought it to him. Slowly, he guided her hand over his chest and down his tight abs.

"Do you like that?" he asked her sensually. JJ nodded her head, unable to form a coherent verbal response.

"Good, I like what I see too." He smiled as his eyes ran over her body intently.

Cole laid back down on top of her, kissing her again. JJ felt his hand travel down her stomach, along her hip bone, and stopping at her waist. His other hand massaged her thigh encouragingly. He was overwhelming her. She felt so many things, the most vivid of which was that she was getting close.

She felt her pants loosen as he undid the button to her slacks. Another alarm went off in JJ's head as she felt his fingers slowly pull her zipper open.

This was going to happen. She was almost at the point of no return. She didn't do this; she didn't hook up with people in a setting like this, no matter the situation. She was _working_. Her job was to remain focused and sharp, not to give into her bodily desires. She was stronger than this. She didn't even _know_ Cole as much as she felt as though she could relate to him. This couldn't happen, she couldn't allow it. No matter how close she was, no matter what her body was telling her. If she really wanted this she could wait until the case was over. It would be less complicated and it would give her time to think.

As she felt Cole guide her pants down her hips, she began to panic. She moved her hand off his abs and joined it with her other in an attempt to push him off her. Cole was caught by surprise and immediately fell back. Quickly, JJ rolled off the couch and stumbled to the floor.

"Jennifer, what's going on?" he asked surprised.

Cole watched her struggle to her feet as she simultaneously pulled her pants back up from her thighs. JJ hoped he hadn't seen too much, though she had little doubt she had just given him a great view of her underwear before she'd been able to pull her pants back up. Cole kept his eyes locked on her waist the whole time, burning the image of how JJ's curves fit in her modest panties into his brain for his own thoughts later.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he watched the clearly flustered blonde quickly button her pants.

"I'm sorry Cole… but as much as it feels right, I just can't. It's not the right time. Too many things are happening and too many emotions are involved. I'm not sure that either of us really wants this for more than what it is…what it would be." JJ rambled as she pulled her blouse back over her saliva-covered shoulder.

"What would it be?" Cole asked, trying to act a little confused.

He knew the moment and opportunity were gone. It wasn't going to happen. He was going to have to settle for how far they had gone, for what he had seen and tasted. Although he wanted more, he wasn't going to force himself on her, that was one thing he didn't do. He may try to be overly persuasive and even push a little too far, but that was where he drew the line. He knew when to stop and he had reached that point.

"Just sex. I don't do just sex." JJ replied as she adjusted her blouse and re-buttoned the bottom three buttons he had opened.

Cole had barely heard her, admiring her body one last time before the moment was gone. Such a shame, she was gorgeous. He could just imagine how she would feel. Maybe after the case, like she had said, although he had serious doubts, especially if she found out he had called the media.

He saw Jennifer staring at him, waiting for a response. The redness in her cheeks had begun to fade, although her lips were still swollen and her hair was a mess.

"I understand." Cole simply nodded, not sure about what else to say.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off as I was playing games with you. I never meant for that." JJ looked at him apologetically.

She still wasn't sure what had come over her, or why she still felt as turned on as she did. Even looking at him shirtless it was all she could do to keep from jumping him.

"It's ok, I understand. Maybe we can try again when this is all over." He smiled at her weakly. She smiled back a little.

"Maybe."

He watched her as she tried to press some of the wrinkles out of her clothes, especially her shirt. Slowly, Cole stood, walking across the room to grab his shirt.

"I'll be back in a minute, just heading to the bathroom." He said as he left the room. JJ barely noticed, her attention more focused on trying to straighten her messy hair.

/

Cole quietly entered the bathroom, closing the door and locking it behind him. He turned on the sink facet to create some background noise as he tried to think through his options and come down from the high he had just experienced from being so close, and yet so far, from bedding Jennifer Jareau. He shook the images of her half-clothed body from his consciousness.

He needed to call his friend Eric back at the TV station. He had kept the TV off at the house on purpose, knowing if the serial killer had made the news then it would be all over the local stations. He needed to know where things stood, if Eric had in fact ran with the story as he had promised. After a couple of rings Eric finally answered.

"Hello?"

"Eric, it's Cole."

"Cole? Hey man you were right, I have my reporter all over this thing and the story is taking off."

Cole smiled a little, hearing the words he had been hoping for.

"That's great Eric, so everything I told you checked out?"

"Yeah, you were right. We just did the newscast and we're getting a lot of feedback from social media. I'm hearing the police station is getting flooded with calls too. We're all waiting for law enforcement to make a statement, I have no idea why they seem to be stalling." Eric explained.

"Great, they should be making one soon I would think." Cole commented.

"I hope so, just adds fuel to the fire. Where are you now Cole? Maybe we can do an interview, get you on TV for your story?"

"Uh… I'll have to pass, I'm a little busy right now. I do have a question for you though."

"Go ahead, just make it quick."

"Do you know who the suspects are?"

There was a long pause on the phone.

"Are you asking me this officially or unofficially?" Eric said finally.

"Unofficially of course, I know that kind of information leak could cost you your job if it were to be broadcast before an arrest. I'm just asking for me, do you know if they've narrowed it down?"

"Cole, you know I shouldn't be telling you this."

"I know, but I'm asking this as a friend, for a personal favor, especially after I just helped give you the story."

Eric sighed deeply into the phone.

"Ok, fine, but you can't tell a soul, and you certainly can't say you heard it from me."

"Of course, I promise."

"I don't know this with absolute certainty, but it appears as though they have it down to two suspects, Chris Banks and Eric Jacobson. I'm sending my reporter back to the station to get the statement and hopefully some more information, we're trying to get some background info on these guys."

"Down to two." Cole mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" Eric asked.

"Nothing, thanks Eric, good luck with the story."

Eric went to say something else, but Cole had already hung up the phone. His mind was racing, hard at work to come up with his next plan. If he knew better the FBI and the police were still at the station. It was now afternoon, more than half the day had passed. He had to put things into his own hands, he still had a few cards to play especially now that he knew it was down to two suspects. He just had to pick one and pray that he was right.

He was going to have to use Jennifer, again. As much as he hated it, he had an idea that could help him find Christina. It would be dangerous and ballsy, and it could very well ruin whatever relationship he had developed with Jennifer. He had come this far though, he couldn't stop now.

Cole grabbed some water, splashing it over his face. After a moment he turned the water off and quietly tip-toed out of the room. He was able to make it to his room without a sound.

Once inside he carefully opened his closet door. He reached to the top shelf where he kept his registered hand gun, out of reach where Aiden would never find it. He had a license, it was legal, and at this moment he was very happy to have it. He checked to make sure it was loaded and that the safety was still on. When he was satisfied he took a deep, calming breath. His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. He couldn't believe he was about to do this.

Quietly he walked back down the hall and cautiously peeked into the living room. Jennifer was distracted with her back to him. She was staring into a tiny handheld mirror, trying to straighten her hair with the tiny travel brush she kept handy.

Cole took another deep, quiet breath before he slowly approached her. She was completely oblivious as he made his way to her. He reached his arm out, wrapping it around her waist. The move startled her as she visibly jumped.

"Cole, you need to take no for an answer. You're starting to aggravate me." JJ said without turning around.

Suddenly she felt the familiar hard, round metal pressed into the back of her shoulder. The mirror she had been holding fell to the ground with a clatter.

**AN: Suspenseful enough? I hate writing two author's notes but I felt it necessary. Cole may seem all over the place –going from near sex to pulling a gun on JJ- but it's all intentional. I'm trying my best to develop a more complex character and it's proven to be more challenging than I anticipated. Cole is acting in a way he thinks is somewhat logical, when in fact he is a bit mentally unstable as a result of what has happened so far. Hopefully that is coming across. All feedback, good and bad is welcome, thanks!**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Thank you for the reviews and messages. I apologize for the wait, things are getting busy. Next chapter should be up within a week hopefully.**

A cold shudder wracked itself through Christina's frozen body. She didn't know how long she had been in the freezer; she didn't want to think about it. She had lost all feeling in her fingers and toes, and the rest of her body felt completely numb as the frozen air had settled into her blood stream.

In a sense it had actually helped her, as it had slowed her heart rate while taking away much of the pain her body felt from head to toe. She knew once she moved it would probably be a different story, and the cold she felt didn't really make up for her lack of pain, but it was the only positive she could think of as she fought the drowsiness that threatened to overtake her at any moment. She had to keep her mind active. She thought about anything and everything to help distract her from the chill, so she wouldn't worry about how long she had been in the freezer for. This was just another attempt by her captor to break her resolve, and it was a goal that she refused to let him reach.

Her mind began to drift, from one random thought to another. Christina knew she wasn't thinking right, that the pain and exhaustion was starting to seep its way into her brain. She forced herself to try to focus again, listening intently to the simple hum of the freezer. She began to drift towards unconsciousness again, her brain slowly losing the battle of staying awake.

Suddenly, light flooded the cold, enclosed space as the door whipped open. Christina slowly shifted her head away as her eyes tried in vain to adjust. Her captor walked into the room and chuckled when he saw her sitting uncomfortably on one of the cleared shelves.

"You're final test is ready. If you meet my expectations I will be _very _impressed, and you will see your son again." He smiled as he approached her.

"That is a very big _if _I must say." He chuckled as he cut her legs free from their restraints. Painfully he grabbed Christina by the arm, and led her from the freezer.

/

Harlan rushed back into the room to join the group of profilers.

"We have a lot of media build up outside. They're waiting for us to give a statement concerning the case. I don't think we can stall them for much longer."

Hotchner nodded his head in agreement.

"I'll go out there and talk to them in a minute." He said.

"How is the call center holding up?" asked Rossi.

"We were initially inundated like you said we would be. The guys I have in place are doing a good job of diffusing the panic though. They're doing a good job keeping up with the volume of calls, and ensuring people that we have the situation under control, that they need to be guarded and aware, but not panicked or frightened."

"Good, that's all we can really do at the moment." Rossi nodded.

"Have the results from the blood work come in yet?" Harlan asked. Hotchner pursed his lips and shook his head in the negative.

"It should be any time, but it's taking longer than we anticipated obviously." Emily explained.

"The sooner the better, I'll be more than happy when all this is over." Harlan murmured.

Just as he said this, there was a commotion at the front of the precinct.

"You can't go in there Ms. Marcum, you've already snuck in here once." One of the officers could be heard saying. Hotchner looked up and immediately walked over with Harlan and Rossi not too far behind.

"What's going on here?" Hotchner asked, staring between the officer and the woman.

"She tried to push her way back in here…"

"The public needs to know what is going on in their own back yards. Instead of coming out and admitting that people could be in danger, all you people have done is to try to keep things quiet and cover it up." Elizabeth Marcum interrupted the young officer.

"We have reasons for everything we do, Ms. Marcum. We are hardly trying to keep the public in the dark. We are trying to build a case and make sure we have the facts of that case first. To do otherwise would be irresponsible and could cause panic which would be counterproductive in catching this killer." Hotchner said as Marcum stared at him.

"I have a job to do, and you are trying to keep me from doing it. The public has a right to know, who are you to make such a decision?" she challenged.

"I'm Aaron Hotchner, and I'm helping to lead this case. Between me and Mr. Rossi, we have been tracking killers like this for longer than you have been born. I would say it's safe to say we have some idea about what we are doing. If we alarm the public and alert the killer, our job becomes a lot harder to do, and the killer becomes infinitely more dangerous. I realize you have a job to do and I'm not trying to be disrespectful or encroach upon your turf, but you need to curb your ambition a little or else this will end in bad results for everyone."

Marcum slanted her eyes, glaring at him as she stood confidently in front of him.

"Is that a threat?"

"No, not at all. But you need to get your facts straight before you report potentially false information. I'm saying don't sneak in here under false pretenses and make our jobs harder. We will release a statement when we are ready and we are sure that doing such a thing won't make the situation worse." Hotchner finished, suddenly finding himself wishing JJ were there to handle this.

It wasn't that he couldn't handle the situation, it was more the fact that he didn't have a way with words quite like she did. He was more blunt and to the point. By the way Marcum was looking at him, Hotch wasn't sure if he had made the situation any better or if he had simply angered her. Either way, he knew he was wasting valuable time arguing with the news reporter in front of him; valuable time that could be spent bringing Christina Edwards home.

"We need answers, we have a right to them." Marcum continued to press.

"You will, I promise. But for now, let us do our jobs, please."

The woman stared at him for a long moment. Finally, after a few quiet moments she simply turned and walked away, back through the door from which she came.

"She's not going to stay away forever. We get to the news at five without a statement or results, this whole thing is going to cave in on us." Harlan leaned over to Hotchner quietly.

"I know. Dave, have Reid type up a quick written statement to release to the press, he'll know exactly what to say." Hotchner directed.

"We need those blood samples." He sighed as he rubbed his temple again.

/

"Cole, what are you doing?" JJ asked as she slowly turned around to face him. Her fears were confirmed when she saw the gun he was pointing at her.

"Jennifer, I need you to do as I say, I'm sorry."

"What the hell are you talking about? Cole, do you realize what you're about to do? You just pulled a gun on a federal agent." She looked at him defiantly as she tried to hide the sudden fear she felt.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I'm desperate. The day is almost more than half over." He looked at her almost timidly.

"So what are you going to do? What's the plan? Kidnap me? After everything, after what almost just happened?" JJ said angrily, taking a step closer.

"Don't, don't move any closer. Please, don't be angry."

"Don't be angry? How am I not supposed to be angry?" she asked incredulously. She took another step towards him, almost within arm's reach of the gun.

"Stop, don't come any closer." He warned her.

"Or what, you're going to shoot me? I don't believe it, go ahead." She said, taking another step forward.

"Jennifer, don't. I really don't want to hurt you." He said, almost pleading now. He was praying she wouldn't test him but he should've known better. She was one tough woman.

"It's a little late for that, isn't it Cole? I never thought for a second you would stoop low enough to pull a gun on me, not after all this. Think about Aiden." She tried, inching closer.

"I am thinking about Aiden, which is why I have to do this. Your team, the local cops, they're all taking too long."

"You need to have faith, Cole."

"It's too late for that. You can't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing if you were in my situation." Cole countered. JJ let the comment slide, trying to keep the focus on him and off of her.

"Now, I'm going to grab your gun out of your coat. Then, I'll hand you your phone and you'll call your friend what's her name…Garcia….and do exactly what I tell you." He explained.

"No I won't." JJ shook her head.

"I'm not giving you a choice Jennifer." He said evenly. When she didn't move Cole became frustrated.

"Looks like we're at a standoff Cole, I guess you'll have to make me. Go ahead, hurt me." JJ taunted.

She still wasn't sold that he had the guts, especially if he had feelings for her like she thought he did. She had seen his heart, this wasn't him. He was too caring to actually shoot her, the unsub maybe, but not her.

When Cole hesitated JJ made a quick decision, she lunged at him. Cole fell backwards onto the floor as the blonde tackled him. She was able to briefly knock the gun from his hand as she strategically placed her body weight on him. Cole grunted and bucked her off of him like a bull would. He grabbed her arms as he leaned over her, trying to force them behind her back.

JJ wriggled her arm and used her leg to kick up, catching him square in the back. Cole reacted to the surprise pain by letting go of her arms. JJ immediately made a crawl for the gun. She kicked out at Cole's knee to push him farther back and to buy herself some time and leverage. She was within reach of the gun when his hand clutched her ankle and dragged her back to him, her stomach chaffing a little on the hardwood floor. JJ tried to fight him, swinging her arms and kicking her legs as he flipped her onto her back and held her down.

"Stop testing me! I really don't want to do this." Cole said as he stared down at her. JJ continued to wiggle beneath him, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

"You made a choice, so live with it. If you think I'm going to help you willingly while you have a gun on me think again." JJ spat at him confidently.

Cole pinned her arms in one hand to her stomach and used his free hand to grab her jaw. He couldn't stop his eyes from glancing over her. The defiant look in her eyes and the sexual tension he felt towards her overwhelmed him. He leaned his head down towards her. JJ tried to turn away as he forced his lips to hers, kissing her roughly.

"There's no other way. You wouldn't do this otherwise. At least this way you can blame me and you won't lose your job." Cole breathed heavily after he pulled away.

"There's always another way Cole." JJ whispered quietly, not meeting his eyes.

"Not this time there isn't." He answered quietly. Slowly Cole stood, keeping a firm hold on JJ's wrists. He carefully helped her up from the floor as he forced her arms behind her back.

"Please don't make me tie your wrists." He said as they walked towards his fallen gun. When they reached the spot on the floor where the gun lay, Cole hesitated. He was unsure of how to pick up the gun without JJ trying something.

"Problem?" JJ chuckled. Cole didn't say anything as they stood there for another moment.

"Someone's a little unsure of himself." JJ taunted.

"You're not making this easy, you know that?" Cole responded, the frustration clear in his voice.

"Good." She smiled.

Carefully, Cole bent down to reach for the gun. As JJ shifted her leg towards him he quickly stood again, realizing there was no way he could grab it without her kicking him.

"Scared?" JJ laughed wryly.

"No, I changed my mind, you grab it." He said as he released one of her wrists.

JJ raised her eyebrow in surprise. This should be interesting, she thought. Slowly she bent down to pick up the gun as he firmly held her other wrist behind her back. As soon as the gun was in her hand she stood to make a quick move. Cole had anticipated it however, twisting the wrist he held and spinning her around to face him so that he held her in a bear hug.

"Nice try." Cole smiled victoriously as he plucked the gun from her. JJ looked down, staring at the gun in his hand when she noticed something that surprised her.

"You had the safety on?" She asked after he had let go of her. He looked at her a little sheepishly.

"I told you I didn't want to hurt you. Just please, I'm begging you, go along with this."

"Cole, you're crazy. You'll go to jail for this if you don't end up dead first."

"It's what I have to do. Please, I don't care if you hate me after this, just do what I say."

JJ stood there in front of him, clearly sizing him up and whatever plan he may have.

"What do I have to do with this?" she asked finally.

"You call your friend, Garcia. We get the address of one of the suspects. We go there, we check it out. If it's the guy that has my sister, you call your team, and I try to rescue my sister if they're too far away."

"Cole that's suicide, you and Christina could both end up dead."

"She'll be dead if I don't do this, I believe it."

JJ sighed as she looked at him uncertain.

"And what if we get there and it's the wrong person or no one is there?"

"Then we try somewhere else if your team still hasn't found her."

JJ shook her head.

"I don't like this at all Cole."

"I knew you wouldn't, that's why I tried the gun."

JJ thought long and hard about his plan, what it meant, the danger, the possible results. She didn't like it one bit. She didn't think it would work. It could cause them both a lot of trouble even if they did sell the whole _hostage_ thing. He was desperate though that was for sure. If he was willing to go to these lengths, then there was no doubt he meant what he said, no matter how dumb it might be.

"What if I say no?" JJ stared at him, needing the answer.

"You won't." Cole said without hesitation.

"I might." She countered. Cole sighed, running his free hand through his hair.

"If you say no I leave you here tied up and go it on my own."

"You wouldn't know where they live."

"It would take me a little longer, but I would still find out eventually."

JJ knew she couldn't let him do this on his own, even if it put her in danger. She wouldn't allow it and she was pretty sure that he knew it too.

"Fine, we'll go with your plan." JJ relented, praying she was doing the right thing.

Cole smiled, going to the coat closet and retrieving their coats. He grabbed her gun before he gave her the coat.

"I hold on to your gun until we get there." He told her as JJ grimaced a little at his demand.

"Just in case. Now, one call to Garcia when we get in the SUV. Keep the details to a minimum and don't call anyone else." He ordered as he grabbed her suit jacket and led her out the door.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." JJ mumbled as he forced her to give him the keys to the SUV.

Cole tossed her suit jacket into the back seat after he fished out her cell phone. He quickly went through the phone, clearing the missed calls and ignoring the voicemails as he searched for Garcia in JJ's phone. Once he found her name he gave JJ a long look before handing her the phone.

JJ took a deep breath and sighed before placing the call. She was in this to the end now.


	16. Chapter 16

Christina slowly walked with her captor. She was happy that he had at least cut her legs free, finally giving her some mobility and an ability to shift her very sore muscles. It was little consolation however. Her legs still hurt immensely, especially the ankle she was sure she had sprained, and she knew she was likely being led to the place where she would die.

Christina sniffled and tried to hold back tears as they made their way to the glass basement door. While keeping a firm grip on her arm, the unsub opened the door and led Christina outside. The cool fresh air hitting her face briefly rejuvenated her lungs. She couldn't be sure how long she had been stuck inside that stuffy house. Silently, the man continued to lead her through the backyard and towards a path in the woods.

Christina's body continued to shake and spasm involuntarily from the cold abuse her body had endured. The occasional cool breeze outside only served to make her shiver all the more as it touched her skin.

Christina remained silent as they began to walk down the path and into the woods. There wasn't much that she could say, what could she say? She knew what was coming, she knew there was no way around this. Her only hope was that someone would come to her rescue, a hope that had gradually seeped from her reality with each passing moment of torture that she had so far endured. She simply felt numb. She was lost in her thoughts, her life flashing before her eyes, the images of Aiden vividly in her subconciousness, remaining as her only source of comfort.

Christina barely felt the throbbing of her ankle as they began to walk down a steep hill, the added weight almost causing her legs to give out. When she looked up from the ground to see where the man was leading her, she felt completely broken.

Lying at the bottom of the hill before her was a large sand pit that stretched a couple of hundred feet. In the sand pit sat her worst nightmare; a makeshift military obstacle course. As they made it to the bottom of the steep hill Christina let out a strangled whimper as he pushed her forward.

"Here, my dear, is your final test. If you are successfully able to complete this course in the allotted time I give you, then I will set you free." He smiled at her as he cut her wrists loose.

Christina immediately rubbed her wrists as she tried to stretch out her weakened arms. After a moment she looked up, her eyes meeting her captors'.

"I suppose since you've made it this far, I can take the mask off now, I have every faith that you won't make it through this." He chuckled as he peeled the wool cap from his head.

Christina was hardly surprised when she saw his face for the first time, she had suspected it was him for a while now. It was that bastard at the gym, the one who had been so nice to her at the time.

Christina considered running, thinking maybe she could try now that he had cut her free from the restraints that had hindered her. She was so weak however. She had barely eaten and gone through so many different forms of torture her body felt as though it would give out at any moment. The unsub noticed Christina's wandering eyes and chuckled.

"Don't think about running, you would hardly get very far." He said as he pulled a gun out of his waistband.

"This is just in case you decide to get a little too adventurous. Here, how about I give you a quick tour while I explain your task." He smiled, motioning to her with the gun to take the lead. Slowly, Christina did as she was told, walking towards the first part of the course timidly.

"You will start here, by running through the tires. Seems simple enough, but it gets tough in the sand and it can be pretty easy to turn an ankle." He smiled as they walked to the next station.

"You will then run, stop, duck down, and crawl through the sand for fifty feet, making sure to stay low so as to not get stabbed by that painful barbed wire. That stuff can be nasty if it hooks into your skin." He chuckled as he looked at her pitiful form.

"Once you make it through the pit, you will get up quick, run, and jump over the set of hurtles. After the hurtles, we come to the stairs. As you can see there are five of them. Once you reach the top you will get on the rope attached to the end and pull yourself thirty feet across to the other side and then go down the other set of five stairs. If you fall off the rope, you will land in the mud beneath, and you will have to go back to the stairs and try again. Simple enough?"

Christina didn't acknowledge him as he simply shrugged his shoulders and walked on.

"Next we come to the wall. This baby is about twelve feet high and you must use the rope to help pull yourself up and over to the other side. Be careful how you fall as although there is a pit of water to catch you, it isn't very deep and hurts like a bitch if you fall awkwardly into it. You will crawl through the water and under the log to the other side."

Christina felt like she was going to die, there was no way she was going to make it through this, even someone who was trained for this would have a hard time.

"After making it under the log you will run to the jungle-gym like bars and swing yourself across as quickly as possible. If you fall, you will have to start back at the beginning of the bars." The unsub chuckled, clearly getting a real kick out of explaining the course to her.

"Finally, you will reach the net. You must climb the twenty feet to the top, and then back down the other side. Once you have completed that, you must run to the finish. If by some chance you've made it that far, then we will end things by testing your hand to hand combat skills. If you are successful, then you are free to go. Sounds like fun, right?" he laughed with glee. Christina remained silent, staring at the course.

"Oh yeah, and the best part is, I will be timing you. If you are too slow then, well, unfortunately you have failed." The unsub smiled as Christina glared at him. He looked up into the overcast sky.

"Well, it's getting late, we better get started." He said as he grabbed her arm and led her unwilling body to the starting line. He pulled out his timer and set it as Christina stared blankly at the impossible task in front of her.

'She was going to die, she was _really_ going to die.' Christina thought as she sniffled.

The unsub cocked his gun and aimed it into the air.

"On your mark, get set, go!" he shouted as he fired the gun into the air. He watched as Christina stumbled from the line and ran towards the tires as quickly as her body would allow.

As he watched in contained glee as she winced in pain and struggled through the tires, the unsub thought he heard something in the woods coming his way. He looked back at Christina who was now crawling through the dirt pit, pondering what he should do. She cried out as her body shifted up and a barb stuck into her shoulder. It was then that he decided on what he would do.

/

"Agent Hotchner, the results from the lab came back. They were positively matched to Alex Arivous' blood." Harlan announced as he walked over to the group.

"Great news, the warrant?"

"I'm on my way to pick it up now. As soon as I have it I'll meet you at Eric Jacobson's house."

"Thank you, great work." Hotchner said as the team gathered their things.

"We're probably about forty-five minutes away, allowing for traffic." Reid calculated as they walked out of the precinct. They walked to the two available SUVs, grabbing their Kevlar vests from it. As they put them on, Hotchner's phone rang.

"What is it Garcia?" he asked, answering once he saw the caller id.

"Uh sir, JJ just called…she uh…she asked for Eric Jacobson's address."

A puzzled look crossed Hotchner's face.

"Why would she do that?" he asked absently.

"No idea, sir."

"Well did you give it to her?" he asked as he strapped on his vest. There was a silent pause on the line.

"Garcia?"

"I'm sorry Hotch, but yes I did. She said it was very important, that she needed it for the case. I thought it was a little weird since I already told you, but…"

"Did she sound like she was in trouble? We haven't been able to reach her."

"Uh, no, she sounded pretty normal to me, I didn't really notice. What do you mean she hasn't been answering her phone?" Garcia asked worried.

"The media got a hold of the story, she hasn't been answering her phone for the last two hours."

"Well she called me half an hour ago, so she must've known you called." Garcia replied.

This response both worried and angered Hotch. Why hadn't JJ answered her phone? Especially if she had seen they called? She would have to know they called if she were to use her phone to call Garcia. Something wasn't right, maybe he should've listened to Emily after all.

"Garcia, why am I only hearing about her call now?" he asked as he stood there, the rest of the team circled around waiting for him. Again, Garcia paused.

"She told me not to call you sir, she made me promise. But the more I thought about it the more something didn't seem right. She sounded fine on the phone but things didn't add up." She admitted hurriedly.

"You should've called me immediately Garcia."

"I know I probably should've, but I didn't know you guys couldn't reach her, if I did I would've called right away." Hotchner sighed, running a hand through his hair. As he stood there an officer walked out of the precinct and approached Rossi.

"Alright, Garcia I need you to trace JJ's phone, see where she is. I should've had you do that a while ago." He said, internally scolding himself.

He knew they had been very busy, especially dealing with the distraction that was Elizabeth Marcum, but it still didn't make up for his oversight. Or, for his lack of listening to Prentiss and Rossi who were suddenly looking more and more right for being concerned about sticking JJ with Cole.

"Hotch, the officer Harlan sent to Cole's just called the precinct. He said neither JJ nor Cole were there, no sign of them." Rossi said the words Hotchner was dreading.

"Garcia, the trace?" he asked her more urgently as he motioned the team to get in their SUVs. He had a feeling of where they were.

"Give me two seconds, and…she's at the same address as Eric Jacobson's. Oh god…" Garcia's voice trailed off.

"Thank you Garcia, be ready in case she calls again." Hotchner hung up the phone. Morgan, who was driving, looked over to Hotchner in the passenger seat.

"Cole went after Eric Jacobson. Somehow he figured it out first, and he brought JJ along for the ride with him." Hotchner said, staring out the window both angry and frustrated. Morgan pressed the accelerator a little harder.

/

"Cole, please listen to me, this isn't a good idea." JJ pleaded with him as they pulled into Eric Jacobson's yard.

"I'm sorry, Jennifer, but it's the only way. I have to do this, for my sister."

"No, you don't." JJ looked at him, trying to appeal to his rationale. Cole paused for a moment, getting lost in her eyes.

"I'm sorry if I deceived you Jennifer. I'm sorry I did this to you, but I had no choice, I was desperate." He explained. She turned her head away, looking out the window.

"You can stay here if you want, your team should be here soon I would assume." He offered as he unhooked his seatbelt and unlocked the door.

JJ thought through her options. As much as she hated being here and being in this situation Cole had put her in, she couldn't let him go in there by himself. He wasn't trained like she was. He was more likely to be emotionally compromised given the stakes. He would probably end up dead if she let him go in there by himself, unless he was extremely lucky. Finally she looked over at him as he stepped out of the SUV.

"Give me my gun." She said evenly.

Cole stared at her for a long moment, weighing whether she would turn on him or not.

"Cole, if you're going to do this, you're going to need help. If I'm going to help you I'm going to need my gun."

Cole hesitated.

JJ unhooked her seatbelt and stepped out of the SUV, walking around to meet him. She stood confidently in front of him, holding her hand out. Cole took a deep breath before gently handing her the gun back. She nodded her appreciation and quickly searched the gun to make sure it was loaded and that the safety was off.

"Follow me and do as I say. You make one wrong move and we could both be dead, understood?"

"Yes." He answered quietly as they made their way up the path towards the house.

"Hey Jennifer, thank you." He said as they stood mere feet from the house.

JJ turned and nodded, a slight smile gracing her face when she realized he meant it.

"You have no idea how much this means to me. And remember what we talked about when your team does show up, I'll take the responsibility, I don't want you to lose your job over this." Cole said as JJ stared at him for a moment. She simply nodded again, raising her gun.

"Let's just focus and worry about the rest after." She whispered to him as they climbed the steps to the door, guns raised.

JJ felt her heart beating steadily in her chest as she took a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever was about to happen. She carefully reached her hand up to knock on the door. Just before her hand made contact with the wood, a loud gunshot rang out from the direction of the woods on the other side of the house, startling them both.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: I apologize for the wait, I certainly didn't intend it and I am sorry to those of you who are still reading this. Life has been getting busy lately. We are reaching the climax of the story in case you couldn't tell, although there are still a few chapters left. Hopefully you enjoy. Also, thank you to the reviewer that noticed my error in the last chapter, obviously I missed that when I was editing it, so thank you. Warnings for violence.**

JJ had barely begun to regroup when Cole took off in a dead sprint in the direction of where the gunshot had come from.

"Cole, wait!" she called after him.

He was completely oblivious, running around the house and down the path leading through the woods. JJ immediately ran after him, but his longer legs put increased distance between them as she ran through the backyard.

"Goddamn it Cole!" she cursed under her breath as he disappeared down the pathway in the woods.

Just as JJ entered the path another gunshot rang out, this one a lot closer to her than the previous one. She froze in place, quickly taking in her surroundings for any imminent danger.

Slowly, she proceeded down the pathway with caution, her gun drawn as her eyes scanned every inch of space around her. She wanted to call out for Cole, but she didn't want to put herself in danger by giving her position away. Finally, she reached the end of the path and the edge of the steep hill. As JJ cautiously looked down the hill she couldn't help but to audibly gasp.

Not far from the bottom of the hill at the edge of the woods was Cole, face down on the ground. JJ was tempted to run to him, but she knew better. Instead, she continued to scan the area. She saw the military obstacle course and as her eyes looked it over she saw another figure, seemingly unmoving, in the middle of a mud pit. Immediately she realized who it likely was, but that only left two people accounted for. The real threat was nowhere to be found.

JJ was tempted to stay where she was; knowing that she had the higher ground and that with any luck, her team would be there soon. If she did that however, then both Cole and Christina could die if they weren't dead already, and it would give the unsub a chance to hunt her if he was still lingering around. She had to do something.

JJ stood from her crouched position and slowly climbed down the hill, remaining cautious of her surroundings at all times. She felt some mild relief wash over her when she made it to the bottom of the hill and stood at the edge of the sand pit, only a few feet from Cole. She could visibly see that he was breathing, and hear him groaning in pain. JJ really didn't want to move from her spot and put herself out in the open.

It was in that moment of hesitation that Eric Jacobson made his move. He had been watching the petite, well dressed blonde as she slowly navigated down the steep hill. He was simply waiting for the opportunity to pounce.

Eric didn't know who these people were, but he did know that they were likely law enforcement. The way the man had simply noisily ran down the pathway with no regard for stealth had surprised Eric. Luckily for him, it had alerted him that he had company and allowed him to take cover at the edge of the woods. As soon as the man had made it down the hill and to the edge of the sandpit, Eric fired his gun from his hiding spot in the woods, instantly dropping the man. Instead of running to check on his victim however, Eric was smart enough to know that there were likely others.

Sure enough, after waiting a few quiet moments, the blonde had appeared at the edge of the hill. Eric laughed to himself at how these people thought they were so smart and could out stealth him, as he watched the blonde constantly checking her surroundings while trying to remain low to the ground. They were idiots, they were nothing. He could beat them, he was better than them, and when he took them both down he would only prove it. A surge of adrenaline rushed through Eric as he watched the pretty woman reach the edge of the sandpit. She was mere feet from him, now was the time to strike.

JJ opened her mouth to whisper to Cole when she felt a rough arm grab her, causing her to let out a scream instead. The man was of a smaller build, but he was still bigger than she was and certainly a lot stronger. JJ momentarily struggled in his grasp as he tried to wrestle her gun from her.

JJ knew from the profile that he had a bad leg, and she immediately kicked at it as he painfully twisted her wrist. Eric let out a wail of pain as JJ's leg connected, just as he had forced her to drop the gun. She moved for her gun after using the kick to gain some separation from her attacker, but was immediately tackled to the ground. He pulled on her hair, roughly lifting her head from the ground and bringing it up to the back of his hand. JJ's head snapped backward from the force of the backhand as Eric kicked her gun out of reach.

"Stupid bitch, thinking you could get the jump on someone who's been trained like me." He sneered down at her, grabbing another handful of her hair.

"Who do you work for?" his voice boomed.

JJ remained silent, simply glaring at him as she made sure her eyes stayed glued on his. She wasn't going to show this man fear. She was going to do whatever she could to use the situation to her advantage, and then attack his weakness when the opportunity presented itself. She knew what this man was, what he was capable of. But she also knew what it would take to stay alive until her team arrived. She had to remain tough and avoid appearing weak or he would kill her in the blink of an eye.

"I said who are you?" he roared as he yanked on her hair again.

"Jennifer Jareau, FBI." She stated confidently, still staring at him while ignoring the pain her scalp was in.

Eric looked her over and chuckled.

"FBI huh? Really?"

JJ didn't say anything.

"Are there any more of you?" he asked, tugging on her hair to make his question more forceful.

"No." JJ said as she tried not to wince in pain.

Eric wasn't completely convinced she was telling the truth, but after listening silently for a moment and not hearing anything, he continued with his questions.

"Do you think you're better than me? Because you're in the FBI? Do you think your skills would beat mine?" he glared.

Again, JJ simply stared. She could tell that she was beginning to agitate him.

"Pretty little thing, especially for the FBI" He said after a moment, his eyes glancing over her again as his fingers kept a firm grip on her hair.

JJ narrowed her eyes at him, knowing his feigned interest in her likely wasn't sexual, and that he was simply trying to scare her as he looked for her weakness.

"I can change that." He smiled before backhanding her again without warning.

Eric grabbed her by the shirt and backhanded her again, and again, and again, his firm hand beating her face as he held her in place. JJ felt blood trickle from her nose and her split lip as he finally let go of her, sending her to the ground in a heap. The assault continued however, as JJ tried to curl into a ball for protection.

Eric's good foot kicked her in the gut, and then in the backside as she groaned in pain. JJ's vision began to swim a little as the repeated blows to her head had left her disoriented. Finally, the attack stopped, and she was forced to stand by the pair of strong arms.

"Good thing you're tiny, it makes it a lot easier for me to handle you." He spit into her ear as his arm wrapped itself under her chin, across her throat.

"Do you know how easy it would be for me to just snap your neck?" he taunted, his arm across her throat applying pressure and choking her, while his other hand grabbed her tangled hair and turned her head.

JJ immediately recognized the choke hold he had her in, and she knew that one wrong move would cause him to snap her neck like he threatened. Still, she struggled against him anyway, fighting for air as she felt her legs lift off the ground as he tilted her body into him. Her vision began to go dark as her eyes drifted absently to Cole's body on the ground not far from her. She watched as he slowly rolled onto his back, his gun nowhere to be found. He was in obvious pain, but still alive; a state she currently found herself in though for how much longer she wasn't sure. Eric saw this too and smiled.

"And who is this? Is he also an FBI agent?" Eric asked as he carried JJ towards Cole. He released a little pressure on her throat.

"Answer me!"

"He's…a…civilian." JJ choked out, her fingers still scratching at the firm arm around her neck.

"So why is he here then?" Eric pressed as Cole looked at them with hazy eyes.

JJ could now see the extent of the damage done to Cole. He had a gunshot wound to the shoulder, perilously close to his heart, though just high enough to have missed killing him.

"Leave…her alone!" Cole shouted with what strength he had.

Eric chuckled at this.

"What's she to you? I'm assuming that's your sister over there since you're a civilian. Why else would you be here?"

Cole didn't say anything as he watched the fight start to leave JJ.

"Maybe I should make you choose, that would make things interesting wouldn't it? Your half dead sister, or this pretty, soon to be dead, FBI agent." Eric smiled, shaking JJ in his arms.

"Stop…take me instead." Cole groaned.

Eric paused before chuckling again.

"Now where would the fun be in that? It'd be a lot more fun for you to make the choice for me."

JJ croaked and gasped for breath desperately as the unsub suddenly moved his arm from her throat. He continued to hold her close, but JJ was grateful for the sudden rush of air into her lungs and the gradual return of her vision.

"So who is it going to be? Your sister is almost dead. At least this one here has some fight in her, she's feisty."

"I'm not going to choose." Cole stated.

"Why not? Does your sister mean so little to you? Or maybe, does this one mean that much?" Eric chuckled as he 'petted' JJ's hair, causing her to shiver involuntarily.

"I mean, she is pretty, but looks aren't everything. They can be changed quickly, especially if something sudden and unexpected were to happen." He whispered into JJ's ear.

She immediately began to wriggle in his arms as she tried to break free. She knew he was taunting her, but she was quickly getting tired of his games. Where the hell was her team?

Before she could react, Eric suddenly spun JJ around to face him, pulled back, and punched her square in the jaw. She immediately fell back to the ground, the shock from the sudden blow nearly rendering her unconscious as she found herself flat on her stomach.

"Now choose or I won't give you a choice! Then you may really regret what you will have caused!" Eric yelled at Cole as he firmly placed his booted foot on JJ's lower back and applied pressure.

Both JJ's and Cole's eyes met for a moment as she tried to hide the pain being caused by Eric digging his heel into her back and gradually applying more pressure. Cole looked at her with apologetic eyes, but JJ merely nodded subtly, knowing it was the only real option they had of trying to get them all out of there alive.

"Fine…I choose Agent Jareau to take my sister's place." Cole whispered hoarsely, praying he hadn't just handed down a death sentence.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Thank you to those who reviewed, I'm glad you like this story! I apologize for the wait, I tried to upload a few days ago and the site wasn't working correctly. Luckily for those of you reading, this is the longest chapter yet, hopefully you enjoy! Warnings for violence and potentially suggestive material though nothing too bad.**

Eric smiled at Cole's decision.

"See, now that wasn't so hard." He chuckled, removing his foot from the agent's back. He reached down to lift her back up, not caring that his fingers were roughly digging into her stomach.

As they rose, JJ regained her bearings as best she could and lashed out at him, swinging her leg in an attempt to catch his bad knee again. Eric was ready this time however, using his quick reflexes to grab her leg with his hand.

"You're feisty I'll give you that Agent Jareau. However that wasn't very smart." He glared at her, gradually lifting her leg higher and higher into the air as he kept his eyes locked on hers.

JJ tried not to show any fear as she was uncertain of his next action, though she knew it would be painful.

"Pretty flexible." Eric smiled as her leg was lifted higher.

In one swift motion, he kicked out the leg that was keeping JJ standing, sending her painfully onto her already sore backside, landing back in the sand.

"You're only hurting yourself Agent Jareau, you should conserve your energy, you're going to need it." He chuckled as he pulled her back to her feet once again.

"Now, first things first. You're going to help what's his name over there up, and guide him over to the start line so he has a better view of the show. We don't have enough time for you to go through the whole process, so you're going to pick up where the other one left off." Eric directed as he kept a firm grip on her wrists, his eyes glancing to the woman still laying flat in the mud. When JJ didn't make a move, he pushed her.

"Don't test me Agent, my patience is running thin."

JJ took a deep breath before bending down to help Cole up. A few droplets of blood dripped from her nose into the sand as she grabbed his hand and struggled to help Cole to his feet.

"I'm sorry about all this, Jennifer, I'm so stupid." Cole whispered as she draped his arm around her shoulders. He was losing strength as blood continued to flow from his wound, and JJ knew she would have to let him put his weight on her so that he could walk.

"Don't, Cole. Just stay quiet and call me Agent Jareau. If he thinks there's something going on he'll use it against us. We have to remain distant from each other and get through this; you did what you had to. I can take whatever he throws at me until my team gets here." JJ whispered to him as they began to walk towards the obstacle course.

Her words were as much to encourage herself as they were him. Honestly, she was wondering where the hell her team was and inwardly praying that she could stall long enough. Her face was throbbing as she felt the bruises beginning to form, and blood continued to trickle from her open wounds. She knew her endurance and pain thresholds would probably be tested soon meaning she had to push through everything she was already feeling from her earlier beating.

JJ walked them slowly forward, her small body straining a little under Cole's weight. This prolonged her own discomfort, but it also gave her a reason to waste some time by walking slow.

"Are you ok?" Cole whispered as he noticed some sweat beginning to form on her brow.

"No talking!" Eric ordered, standing a few feet behind them and watching with satisfaction as the blonde seemingly struggled to help the other man walk.

Finally, they made it to the distinctly painted start line in the sand, right in front of a carefully spaced set of tires on the ground. Carefully, JJ unhooked Cole's arm from her shoulders, and eased him to the ground.

"Nice work, although I can't say I'm all that surprised. You've already proven you're stronger than you look." Eric smiled at her.

JJ simply stared back at him again, choosing not to acknowledge his words.

"Ok, so here's the plan. You, Agent Jareau, are going to run this course. I'm sure it's a little similar to courses you may have had to complete during your training with the agency. The deal is you complete this course in under three minutes, then pass one more test if you make it in time, and I will let all of you go."

JJ shook her head negatively.

"What?" Eric asked a little surprised.

"You won't let us go, you're just saying that. You haven't let anyone else go, and you certainly won't risk being caught by letting us go, I'm not stupid." JJ said boldly as she watched Eric's face become progressively angrier.

"I haven't let anyone go because nobody has passed so far. As for getting caught if I let you go, I am hardly worried. You won't complete the course in time…I guarantee it."

"You seem confident."

"Oh trust me, I am."

"What's the final task?"

"You'll have to wait to find out until the end."

"That hardly seems fair. Don't you think we should set some ground rules, such as no cheating?"

Eric's face dropped further.

"I don't cheat! How dare you insinuate that I do! If you make it successfully through the course, I will be more than fair to you, that you can be certain of."

"I don't believe you." JJ said as she stood her ground.

"You don't need to! You just need to realize that you hardly have a choice in the matter…and that others are currently depending on you." Eric said as he walked over to Cole and firmly gripped the man's wounded shoulder.

Cole gasped in pain as he clenched his eyes shut.

"Ok…you've made your point." JJ relented as she spoke firmly, refusing to let any emotion betray her.

"Good. Now, are you ready?" Eric smiled.

"I'm supposed to do this in less than three minutes? How long does it take you?"

"Does it matter? Stop stalling and get ready."

"Yes, it does actually. I find it kind of hard to believe you can do this course yourself in less than three minutes. And, I'm at a disadvantage seeing as I don't have the proper footwear or clothes." JJ challenged.

She knew she was testing her luck a little, but she had already earned at least an extra five minutes for her team and given the distance from the police station, they should be there almost any minute if they were on the way.

Eric smirked at this, a twinkle in his eyes as he approached her. Silently, he gripped her coat, roughly grabbing the collar and tugging it down from her body, leaving it piled on the ground by their feet.

"You can do this naked for all I care Agent Jareau, actually, I'd prefer it." He smiled suggestively as his hands grabbed her blouse, preparing to rip it open.

JJ's hands immediately moved to his, stopping him before he could do it.

"Don't."

Eric smiled, releasing his grip on her shirt.

"Either way, you will run this course, and you will do it in less than three minutes or you will all die." He said as he backed away and pointed the gun he held at Cole.

JJ looked to Cole, his eyes now barely open as he drifted in and out of consciousness.

"Now, get going." Eric ordered as he shifted the gun and pointed it into the air.

JJ turned and looked at the course, taking a big breath as her eyes scanned the different obstacles. She barely had enough time to give herself a pep talk when the gun fired into the air. She was now running for their lives.

/

When the team had closed within two miles of Eric Jacobson's house and JJ's cell signal, Aaron Hotchner had ordered that they go in silent, without sirens, so as to not alert the unsub.

Once they had closed to within a mile, the tension in the SUV was palpable. They had no idea what they would find, good or bad. They knew that if their information were right, then JJ and Cole would've been at Jacobson's residence for almost half an hour now. The fact that they hadn't heard from either, suggested that there was still a situation or that they could both be in danger. This fact only served to make the profilers tenser.

Hotchner could feel his heart thumping in his chest, wondering if he had screwed up by sending JJ to look after Cole. If there was more he could have done, or something he overlooked that would've prevented this current predicament.

'Focus' Hotchner reminded himself. He had to stay with the profile, with the actual facts in front of him. He couldn't let himself be distracted by emotions or non-helpful trains of thought. These things could wait until after the case was over. Right now, in this moment, as they pulled into Jacobson's yard and pulled behind the SUV JJ had taken when she left the precinct, he had to focus on the situation at hand and lead his team.

The profilers immediately stepped out of their SUVs, followed closely by Harlan and the other members of the police force who had also been ordered to the scene. They started their approach by checking JJ's SUV.

"JJ's suit jacket is back here on the seat." Emily called from the second row as they quickly searched the interior of the vehicle.

"There's nothing else in here, no other signs of them." Morgan said after another moment.

Hotchner nodded.

"Ok, everyone spread out but be on alert. Morgan and Prentiss go with Harlan and his men and circle around back. Dave, Reid and I will take a few men and enter from the front. Everyone have your guns ready but don't be quick to take the shot until we have found everyone." Hotchner directed as everyone nodded their understanding.

The group spread out with their guns drawn, not leaving any sight unseen as they took their positions around the house. Hotchner led the way up the front stairs, and, without waiting to announce their presence to Eric Jacobson, kicked the door down.

Hotchner entered first, followed closely by Rossi and Reid. They scanned the entry way and made their way further into the dark house as they heard Morgan kick in the back door and lead the way in from the other side.

The two groups met in the middle of the house, the first floor abruptly cleared with little sign of JJ, Cole, or the unsub. They could tell by the layout of the first floor and by the amount of furniture that this was indeed Jacobson's primary residence. What they couldn't tell was how long it had been since he had last been there. The kitchen, like much of the house thus far was spotless.

"Let's split up. I'll lead the way upstairs, Morgan take the basement." Hotchner whispered as Morgan met his stare.

The two groups moved over the separate floors, searching every room, and every closet and storage space. The frustration and worry mounted for both groups as the farther they went the more empty they turned up. If the unsub was operating from out of this house, he had done a rather meticulous job of cleaning up. Finally, it was Reid who spotted something.

"Hotch!" He called from a nearby room, one of the last they had to search.

"What is it Reid?" Hotchner asked as both he and Rossi quickly ran into the room where he was crouched down on the floor.

"Looks like some dried blood." Reid responded, pointing to some flecks that spotted a small section of the hardwood floor.

Hotchner felt both a sense of relief and dread. They had the right house; however he was worried about whose blood it could be. Was it JJ's? The unsub's? One of his victims? Questions swirled through his head.

"Anything else, Reid?"

"Not that I can see, no."

"He must be keeping his tools somewhere; we know he uses different instruments on his victims." Rossi said as he looked around the room.

"Maybe Morgan-" Reid was about to say when Hotchner's phone rang.

"What is it Morgan?"

"Hotch we've searched the basement. There aren't any signs of JJ or anyone else down here. We did find a taser and some other things down here though. This is definitely our guy."

"Ok, we'll meet you down there. The rest of the house is clear, we haven't turned up much besides some trace amounts of blood."

"We're running out of time Hotch." Morgan stated, the worry evident in his voice.

"I know we are, we have to be missing something. This is where he kills his victims, we know that." Hotchner spoke into the phone, motioning Rossi and Reid to follow him towards the basement.

"What if he has a separate space, maybe a shed?" Emily could be heard speculating in the background.

"It's possible, that means we'll have to search the woods which will probably be a heck of a task." Morgan replied as the other profilers made their way down into the basement and Hotchner hung up his phone.

"What do you think, Hotch?"

"I don't think we have much choice. There's obviously no one in the house at the moment. We'll have a couple of officers stick behind to search the place and wait in case he returns. The rest of us will search the yard and the woods. He has to be here somewhere, if he left then either his truck or JJ's SUV would be missing. They're both still here which means they are here, somewhere, too."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"We'll canvas the area, starting with the backyard." Hotchner directed.

As a group they moved through the glass sliding door, from the basement into the backyard. They were still filing through the door when Reid called out again, excitedly.

"Hotch it looks like there's a path leading through the woods over there!" he said as he pointed.

Immediately everyone else saw it too. Quickly, with guns drawn, the group made it across the yard and towards the path, wary of a potential ambush as they reached the edge of the woods.

/

JJ made it quickly through the tires without any problem, her previous soccer skills allowing her agile feet to maneuver through despite the fact she was wearing dress shoes. She was thankful that the heels on her shoes weren't very high, although she knew she'd eventually have to lose the shoes and go barefoot once she reached some of the other obstacles, an action she was dreading.

JJ made it to the next station and dove down to the ground, beginning her perilous crawl through the sandpit. She kept conscious of the barbed wire, even as the sand brought her small body closer and closer to it. She remained as low to the sand as she could, using her elbows to wiggle her body forward.

JJ knew her once clean clothes weren't going to remain that way much longer, but that was the least of her worries at the moment. Rather, she was trying to remain focused on her task even as the sand sliding inside her clothes had begun to irritate her skin. She was going to need a thorough shower after all this was done.

She pressed forward, reaching the end and hardly noticing when the cool breeze blew, causing a few of her hairs to catch in the wire and to be plucked from her scalp. JJ pushed herself back up to her feet and rushed over to the hurdles. She contemplated kicking off her shoes so as to not turn an ankle from running and jumping in the sand, but she didn't want to waste time kicking them off just yet.

The hurdles were up a bit higher than they should be for her petite height, but JJ pushed forward anyway, ignoring the pain when one hit her thigh because she hadn't jumped high enough. It was tough for her to jump high enough between her shoes and the resistance from the sand. She always hated the hurdles, even in high school.

As she untangled the last hurdle from her legs, JJ stumbled to the set of stairs. She quickly climbed up them and leaned forward to grab the rope to crawl across.

"Two minutes Agent Jareau!" Eric shouted from a distance.

JJ tried to ignore him as she climbed onto the rope and began to pull herself across. When she was halfway across, she looked down to where Christina still lay. She appeared to be unconscious, but JJ could see that she was still breathing. The poor girl had simply passed out from exhaustion after all of the abuse she had suffered during the past few days.

"Hang in there Christina, help is on the way." She whispered to the woman as she passed over her.

JJ continued on across the rope, wincing at the rope splinters that painfully embedded themselves into her hands. Her stomach didn't feel much better as the rope chaffed against her skin where her blouse was riding up, mixing with the already irritating sand that was still stuck to her.

JJ was more than grateful when she had reached the end. She climbed down the stairs and jogged to the wall. She stopped for a quick moment to appraise it, trying to ignore how it towered over her and seemed impossibly high.

She couldn't believe she was doing this, she wanted to stop. She was beginning to feel tired and she knew the rest of this course was only going to get harder. She wasn't doing this just for herself though, she remembered. She was an FBI agent first, even if she was a media liaison. She was better equipped to handle this than Cole or Christina; she had to do this for them. That was why even though she wanted to stop, to look towards the woods in hopes that her team would be stealthily approaching and she could stop with this madness, she instead forced herself to keep going.

JJ grabbed the rope, using her feet to begin her ascent. Her arms began to shake as she neared the top, the strain on her upper body becoming more intense. She felt the sweat running down the side of her face as she finally reached the top.

She hesitated when she looked down to the other side. It seemed like a long way to the bottom and she had no idea what could be in the water or how deep it would be. She reminded herself that she had no choice and in another instant, she swung her legs over the other side and jumped off.

She hit the water with a splash and a loud gasp. The water was a couple of feet deep, helping to cushion her fall. However, it was absolutely freezing, instantly causing the air to rush from her lungs as the water soaked through her clothes and seeped into her skin.

With a shiver JJ half-stumbled, half-walked to the end of the makeshift pool until she got to the log. She hesitated for a moment, realizing she would have to immerse most of her body in the freezing water to make it under the log.

She held her breath and quickly ducked under, the water up to her chin. The cold water on her chest made her muscles tighten and constrict on her lungs, her breathing becoming more desperate.

As she climbed out of the pool, JJ's whole body shook.

The cool breeze now felt frigid as the cold penetrated through her soaked clothes and goose-pimpled skin. She felt miserable. The cold had caused her once limber muscles to tighten and begin to cramp. The bruises she had received from her earlier beating felt more numb than sore, but that hardly made JJ feel any better.

She was soaked from the ends of her hair all the way to her toes. Her shoes were ruined and slippery, forcing her to discard them so that she could actually make it through the rest of the course. Her cold, wet clothes were stuck to her like a second skin, hugging her curves and leaving little to the imagination.

"Looking good Agent Jareau." Eric chuckled as her cream colored blouse had turned mostly see-through.

"You have one minute left!" He taunted gleefully as the blonde stared at the rest of the course still in front of her.


	19. Chapter 19

The group of FBI agents and police officers slowly made their way down the path with Hotchner and Morgan leading. They tried their hardest to keep from making too much noise as they had no idea of what they could be walking into.

So far, as they scanned the woods, all they could see were more trees and brush as they walked deeper along the pathway. They listened intently for any signs of JJ or any noises that would give them warning of an imminent threat.

Morgan bumped his shoulder into Hotchner's to get his attention. Hotchner shifted his eyes over to Morgan who shifted his eyes down to the ground. When Hotchner saw what Morgan did, he nodded his head in affirmation. Some of the brush along the edge of the path had been disturbed, and although they weren't clear, there were partial footprints that suggested someone or a couple of some ones had recently been on the path. They were heading in the right direction and it was only a matter of time until they came upon something. Hopefully JJ, alive.

After another couple hundred feet, Hotchner and Morgan both put their hands up, signaling the rest of the group to halt. They had reached the end of the path and as they peered over the edge of the steep hill that the path ended at, what they saw alarmed them.

At the bottom of the hill was a sandpit with a make-shift military training course. Towards the middle of the pit stood a short man who was obviously favoring his leg. While he wasn't holding a weapon, he did have a gun –the same gun he had used earlier- tucked into the back of his pants. He stood confidently, watching something.

On the ground there were two bodies; one in the middle of the course, a woman, not JJ. The other was slouched on the ground near him, Cole. Neither was moving and from where they stood, Morgan and Hotchner couldn't tell if either was still alive.

What worried them more was there was no sign of JJ. There was a coat that looked like hers near Cole and the man who was no doubt their unsub, but they couldn't be sure from that distance. It was obvious something held the unsub's full attention however, and they could only assume it was JJ even if they couldn't see her.

Either way, they didn't have time to wait around and see what was happening; they had to make a move. Hotchner pondered their options for a brief moment until he came to his decision.

"Dave, take Prentiss, Reid, and some men and flank around to the other side of the pit. We need to cut down his options in case he tries to run when we approach him. Stay a few feet back and remain quiet, although he appears to be distracted we don't want to draw his attention or spook him." Hotchner directed as Dave met his eyes and nodded.

"What's the signal to move in?" he asked.

"We're going to begin our approach while you make your way around. We don't know how much time JJ or the others have assuming JJ is there. Once you make it into position and see us at the edge of the pit you can begin to move in as well." Hotchner said.

"It might be wise to have some men hang back in the woods, just in case he somehow makes it past us." Reid suggested.

"I agree. Harlan have a couple men hang back around the edge of the pit. If Eric somehow makes it past us and is alone, then they may take whatever action is necessary to stop him. We cannot let him escape." Hotchner looked to the man.

"Understood." Harlan nodded as he began to whisper orders to some of his men.

"Ok let's do this." Prentiss said as she began carefully making her way through the brush to the other side of the pit as some of the others followed.

She was worried, more than worried really. She had a lump in her throat and a pit in her stomach. She didn't like that the unsub still had the upper hand and would likely see them coming, and she certainly didn't like that she couldn't see JJ and had no idea what shape the younger agent was in.

She was halfway to her position with Rossi, Reid and a couple of officers. As she looked at the course the unsub still appeared to be oblivious to them. Then, finally, she saw JJ. From a distance she couldn't tell for sure what shape she was in, but the blonde was straining as she climbed to the top of the tall wooden wall.

Prentiss froze, as did the others, long enough to watch as JJ reached the top and hesitated for a moment before jumping off. She landed with a splash but continued moving.

"Come on Prentiss, let's keep moving." Rossi touched her shoulder, bringing her out of her daze.

She continued walking, mindful to stay quiet even as she could now here the unsub's taunting, leering comments directed towards her friend.

'Hang in there JJ, we're coming to get you.' Prentiss thought to herself as they reached their side of the pit and prepared to move in.

/

JJ jumped up, grabbing a hold of the first bar on the jungle-gym like set. Her hands were still wet and her fingers numb as she swung herself to the second bar. After passing forward from the third bar to the fourth JJ wavered, her grip slipping on the bar as her arms began to shake again from exhaustion.

She closed her eyes and forced herself to regroup, telling herself she had been through worse and that this was a piece of cake compared to some of the soccer drills she used to do. Forward she swung, past the fifth and sixth bars.

"Damn you are looking mighty good Agent Jareau." Eric taunted with a smile.

"Feeling a little cold, are we?" he cackled as he stared at the two bumps protruding through her blouse.

JJ ignored him, knowing that although he was seeing much more of her than she would like, that ultimately he was trying to get into her head.

"I don't know about you, but watching her is starting to turn me on." Eric said loud enough for her to hear as he turned to Cole.

Cole's eyes flickered, his fight with remaining awake almost completely gone. He couldn't think straight, couldn't focus. He knew Jennifer was on the course, he knew this bastard was taunting and demeaning her, but he didn't know how close to being done with the course she was. He didn't know if she had a chance, if they had a chance. All he felt was cold numbness as the darkness began to envelop him.

After a couple more near falls JJ made it to the end, her knuckles white from gripping the bars so tightly.

"Give it up Agent Jareau, there's no way you can make it up and down that net in time." Eric called as he watched her run barefoot through the sand towards the final station.

'I'm not quitting!' JJ told herself as she climbed onto the net and began her ascent.

She curled her toes, helping herself to grip the net as she climbed. Halfway to the top JJ looked up, knowing she had about ten seconds before her time was up. She wouldn't make it, she didn't have a chance. She told herself she had to finish no matter what however, and before she had a chance to feel down on herself she noticed something.

JJ's heart fluttered with joy and a slight sense of relief at the sight. Not far away was her team with the local police, quietly surrounding the pit and closing in on Jacobson. The unsub was so distracted with watching her, his glee with her soon to be failure, that he was completely oblivious that his game was about to end in a way he wouldn't expect.

Now JJ just had to keep him distracted for a little longer. She couldn't give away that her team was there; she couldn't make eye contact or acknowledge them. Instead she kept climbing higher on the net even as her sore muscles and tired body begged her not too. She did so not to just keep up the ruse, but also in an attempt to get herself safely out of the unsub's reach. She knew she was the object of his attention now, that both Christina and Cole were unconscious and likely held little interest for the unsub anymore.

He wanted her; he wanted to prove that he was better than her, better than FBI training, even with his disability. There was no way he could get to her if she were high up, his leg would make it too tough, he'd be too slow. He could still try to shoot her, but that wasn't his M.O., he'd only maybe do that if he were truly desperate.

As she neared the top Eric walked towards her, counting down. The agents around the pit slowly closed in further, giving themselves a better chance to take him down if it came to that.

"Three…two…one…you're out of time Agent Jareau!" Eric said gleefully as he stood only a few feet from the net.

JJ stopped climbing, gasping for breath as she let her body recover a little in preparation for any sort of altercation that might be ahead.

"I'm impressed with your effort, but unfortunately you just weren't fast enough." He continued.

"So…what's the next…step?" JJ breathed as she looked down towards him. Eric smiled.

"I'll admit, you did better than I had anticipated. How about you come down here and maybe we can work something out?"

JJ chuckled at this.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it appears your friends' bodies have already failed them. They hold little more interest to me. You, however, I could maybe make an exception for. You are certainly stronger than any of the others so far. I'll let you live for a while longer, maybe we can work something out." Eric smiled.

"I think I might be safer up here." JJ answered as she clung to the net.

"That may appear to be a wise decision Agent Jareau, but let me tell you that it is in fact not. You should come down here before I change my mind."

JJ chuckled again.

"Like I told you before, I really don't trust you. I've seen your "work". I find it very hard to believe that you would have a sudden change of heart. If you want me, you have to come up here and get me." She challenged, angering Eric.

"You know that would be a challenge for me."

"Aw, such a shame."

Eric's blood boiled at her taunt, the nerve of the bitch!

"You have it all confused Agent Jareau, I don't come to anyone, you come to me!" He shouted as his hands firmly grabbed the net and he began to shake it.

JJ gasped, holding on for dear life as he tried to make her fall to him. Her strength was sapped, her fingers still numb, she was losing her ability to hang on. Just as she thought she was going to plummet to the bottom, the sound of a gunshot pierced through the air.

Abruptly, the shaking stopped. JJ froze, clinging to the net and calming the heartbeat that was pounding in her chest. Finally, she regained the courage to look down. At the bottom of the net was Eric Jacobson in the sandpit, a gunshot wound in his arm as he clutched it in pain.

JJ looked around, watching as her team and the police ran in the sand towards the unsub. Morgan, who had taken the shot, was outrunning them all. As JJ looked down again her heart began to speed up again. Eric's hand had left his arm and was now digging around his waistband for his gun.

"Gun!" JJ shouted as he began to pull it out.

Immediately Morgan stopped in his place and took aim. Eric continued to raise the gun, lifting it in the direction of JJ.

"You're coming with me, bitch!" he shouted as he tried to take aim.

Another shot fired and JJ's body flinched instinctively. She watched in relief as Jacobson collapsed in the sand, dead, as a result of Morgan's bullet to his head. JJ sighed, letting out the breath she had been holding.

After taking a minute to gather herself, she began her decent back down the net, thankful that she had survived to see another day. When she reached the bottom she was surrounded by the warmth of her team.

"JJ are you alright?" Morgan asked as he took in her appearance.

Her hair was tangled, the ends matted from where the water had touched it. Her once pristine clothes were wet and dirty, clinging to her body. Her face was already turning color from the bruising that had begun to form and there was still blood running from her nose and lip.

"Cold." She shivered as gust of wind sent a chill through her bones.

As if on cue Emily approached with JJ's discarded coat, wrapping her in it and wrapping her arms around the woman.

"I'm so glad you're alive." She whispered into the blonde's hair.

"So am I." JJ whispered, letting the warmth of her coat and Emily's embrace soothe her.

"We all are." Rossi said for the rest of them.

JJ nodded and smiled a little.

"I'm just glad I was able to distract him long enough for you to show up. We need to check on Cole and Christina." She said, her thoughts suddenly turning to the two people who may not have been as lucky as her.

She looked past her team and from side to side, looking at both siblings as paramedics arrived and began to attend to them.

"Are they…" Reid began but couldn't finish.

JJ shook her head negatively.

"I don't think so. Christina was still breathing when I got near her, I think she'll live. Cole was shot just above the heart, he lost a lot of blood…" JJ's voice drifted.

"JJ…" Emily started.

"It's my fault if he dies. I'm the one who was supposed to be in control of the situation." JJ stated bluntly.

"It's too soon to blame yourself. Let's wait and see what happens, we need to hear all the details before we can pass judgment." Rossi tried to rationalize.

"You need to get checked out too." Hotchner said, speaking for the first time.

He was happy, overjoyed to see that she was alive. But it also pained him every time he looked at her bruising face. He could only imagine what she had been through. What he had put her through, what she had put herself through.

There was so much to know still, specifically, how she had ended up here before the rest of the team. Why she had failed to contact the team. He would have to debrief her. He wanted to do so in a private environment, where she wouldn't feel so much pressure and where they could be honest with each other about exactly what had led to this situation.

"I'll drive JJ to the hospital to get checked out. The rest of you can finish up here and then meet us there." Hotchner said firmly.

It was an order not an option, so no one dared to say anything. They knew Hotchner wanted to talk with JJ in private about what had happened. They would all get bits of the story later, but for now it would be between her and her boss.

"There's a blanket in the SUV, that should help you to warm up." He said as he turned to the blonde.

JJ nodded, knowing she was going to be debriefed on the way to the hospital whether she liked it or not.

Hotchner placed his arm around her shoulder and began to lead her away from the pit. As they reached the edge, JJ stopped to talk to the head medic on scene.

"How are they?" she asked hopefully.

The medic looked at her and considered his words.

"The man has lost a lot of blood but we've slowed the bleeding. Right now it looks like he'll make it. The woman sustained a lot of physical abuse, she's going to need surgery to fix some of the bones that were broken. She's in rough shape, but we're thinking positive right now."

JJ nodded.

"Thank you."

"Come on JJ, let's go." Hotchner said softly as he led her away and towards his SUV.

**AN: Hopefully this chapter didn't disappoint. Thank you for the reviews, we're getting towards the conclusion soon!**


	20. Chapter 20

JJ sat bundled in a wool blanket in the passenger's seat of the SUV as Hotchner drove them to the hospital. The first part of the drive had been awkwardly quiet and JJ waited, almost dreading, when Hotch would begin asking her questions. She still hadn't decided what she would say.

Would she simply tell him the whole truth? How she had let Cole get to her and she had almost lost her self control? No, she couldn't. Her life was built on control, on the ruse of always being in control. If she told Hotch she had lost that control, he would be more careful around her, he would restrict her duties, and his confidence in her would be shaken.

Would she lie to him? Again no, she couldn't. He was a profiler he would know and beyond that, they were friends and they knew each other too well. She couldn't flat out lie about what had happened either. She would have to find some semblance in the middle. It would be more believable and mostly truthful. She would have to settle for that and take the results as they came.

"JJ?" she heard him question, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Huh? Sorry Hotch I didn't hear you." She said quietly.

"I said, I would like to talk to you about what happened, if that's ok." He said carefully.

He knew he could be intimidating but that was the opposite of what he wanted to accomplish. He wanted her to open up to him. About what she was thinking and feeling. About what had happened before the team arrived.

"Sure." She said simply, not making it any easier for him to start the debriefing.

"Ok, how about we start with what happened after you left the precinct." He glanced towards her.

JJ looked so small, so cold even wrapped in the blanket. He could tell she was trying to be strong, but her body language told a different story. Her body hurt, she was cold and exhausted from her ordeal.

"I uh…I took Cole back to his place as you told me to…" she began, her voice still softer than normal.

"We stayed there for a while, talking, he was pretty torn up about everything." JJ said, glancing out the window, pushing back the flashbacks of what had really happened. She continued after a pause.

"I tried to console him, but it was difficult. He was shouting, then crying, then worried. Just…all the emotions you would expect from someone who thought they were going to lose a sibling. I…I could relate to him, because of my sister." JJ looked at Hotch and he met her sad eyes, nodding.

He understood, he knew all about the story of how JJ had lost her sister.

"We…we began talking a little about why I could relate so much, about how I had lost a sibling too. It seemed to work, it calmed him down. But then the more I thought about it, the more I realized if I were him, I couldn't just sit around either. I would do everything in my power to get my sister back." JJ paused again as Hotchner let her take her time, the silence hanging over them.

"So, after some deliberation, I decided to give Garcia a call. I knew we had it down to two suspects. The chances were that one of them _had_ to be the unsub. I thought, maybe we could check one of them out, narrow down the possibilities. If we found something we would call you. When I called Garcia, I did so knowing you guys had called, but I knew if you found out you would never allow it. So I told her not to tell you, knowing that when you found out, you would become worried and send someone after us…it was kind of a backup plan if you will." JJ said, her words picking up speed as she began to run through the story, worried about what Hotch would say now that she had admitted to deceiving him and going against his orders.

Instead of interrupting her, he encouraged her to continue. He wanted to wait to give his opinion on things until he had heard her whole story.

"Uh…anyway, Cole was all for it of course, and we left his house for Eric Jacobson's house. When we got there, I kind of lost control of the situation as you could tell…" JJ paused, waiting for him to say something.

"What happened?" he asked evenly.

"We got out of the car, and things just happened so quickly. We approached the house, we were both armed because Cole brought a gun he had a license for, and I directed Cole to stay behind me and do as I say. The only reason I let Cole bring his gun was to let him back me up in case things became desperate." JJ tried to explain when she saw Hotch arch his eyebrow and his expression become more firm when she mentioned she had allowed a civilian bring a gun to the scene.

She knew it would appear to be gross lack of judgment on her part, but she still thought it better than the alternative of Cole pulling a gun on her. She didn't know why she was putting herself, her career at risk for Cole, but she was. She prayed it didn't come back to royally screw her. She stared at Hotch for a moment longer, she could tell that he wasn't too happy, but he remained quiet.

"I…as I went to knock on the door we heard a gunshot from the woods. And before I could react, Cole was in a dead sprint towards the sound. I called after him and chased him, but he was too quick. When I reached the edge of the woods I heard another gunshot. I froze. I slowly went down the pathway and when I reached the end I saw that Cole had been shot and that Christina was unmoving in the sandpit. I surveyed the area, and decided the best option was to check on Cole and make sure he was still alive. There was no sign of the unsub." JJ said, taking a breath.

"I reached the bottom of the hill, and Jacobson ambushed me from the woods immediately. We fought; he got the upper hand and beat me. He then told me to run the course or that he would kill all of us. I had no choice, I stalled for as long as I could, but eventually I had to do as he said…and then you and the team arrived, just in time…" JJ finished, not knowing what else to say.

She felt a lump in her throat. She was scared about what Hotch would say, what he thought of her. In her mind her story hadn't sounded so bad, but the words hurt when she said them out loud. She had screwed up, big time. And every time she reached a point where she knew she had gone against procedure, it felt ten times worse.

She wanted to cry, but that was the last thing she was going to let herself do. Even if she had just been through a traumatic event, she refused to appear weak, especially in front of her boss. After another awkward silence Hotchner finally spoke.

"Sounds like you went through a lot, I'm glad you're ok JJ." He said compassionately, catching her off guard.

Then she became a little frustrated, she knew he was holding his true feelings in.

"Please Hotch; just give it to me straight, I've earned it." She said sounding colder than she meant to.

"Ok then, I'll give it to you two ways." Hotchner said as he glanced towards her, meeting her stare.

"As your boss, I almost don't know where to begin. You disobeyed my orders, lied to me and the team, allowed a civilian to carry a gun while traveling to a potentially dangerous scene without any back up. You lost control of the situation resulting in the near death of said civilian as well as your own. You put a lot of people in danger with your actions Agent Jareau and it almost resulted in a disaster. It reflects poorly not only on you, but on me and how I run and have control over this team. I should suspend you, and honestly if I sent your full report to my superiors, I wouldn't be surprised if they fired you for your actions." Hotchner said firmly, ripping into her.

JJ simply nodded, having steeled herself for this, knowing she brought this on herself.

"I understand Hotch." She said quietly.

"With that said, although I _am_ angry with how you handled yourself and with some of the poor decisions you made, I am also your friend and you are a very valuable member of this team. I can't afford to lose you. I realize I may have asked more from you than I should have, that I put you in a somewhat precarious position while ignoring some of the signs that I probably shouldn't have."

"Signs?" JJ asked quizzically.

"Yes, signs that Cole had a certain sway over you whether you would admit it or not. That his situation was relatable to you, causing the case to become more personal for you than other cases. Cole saw it, he used it to his advantage I'm convinced. From the first day we met him it was obvious that he had a strong personality, and that he could be manipulative. Rossi and Prentiss both brought it to my attention. I thought you could handle it so I let the status quo hold and for a while, you did a superb job. It wasn't until I sent you to Cole's house and he talked you into making this case personal for you, that you began to lose your control over the situation. I'm the leader of this team; part of this is my fault."

"Hotch, don't blame yourself, it's on me."

"JJ, we're both to blame whether you realize it or not. I apologize for putting you in the situation you were in. I'm glad you were tough enough to survive even if you did take a beating. I care very much about you JJ, and I don't want to lose you from this team."

"What are you saying, Hotch?"

"I'm saying while you made some pretty big mistakes, I think you learned your lesson and I'm willing to overlook them. As long as Christina and Cole pull through, the case will be termed a success despite some of the things that happened."

"What about the report? I'm sure as it stands this won't fly with the higher ups." JJ mumbled.

"It won't. That's why I will work with you to write a form of the report that will put the best light possible on this case."

"Hotch, we can't cover this up."

"I'm not saying cover it up, I'm saying _reformat_ the story a little. There's a good chance I will still have to suspend you for a week or two and that this will go in your permanent file, but it will minimize the damage to your career after all you've been through. Technically, you did save both Christina and Cole's lives, and it'll give you a chance to heal as well." Hotchner looked at her thoughtfully.

"Hotch, I…I don't know what to say, other than I'm sorry…and thank you." She looked at him appreciatively.

"Just focus on getting better JJ. You did a lot, you're going to need your rest." He looked at her with a slight smile.

JJ nodded, pulling the blanket closer to her frame as they reached the entrance to the hospital.

**AN: Not sure how I feel about this chapter, but I'm trying to tie up any loose ends and bring this story to a close. One more chapter to go!**


	21. Chapter 21

The rest of the BAU team returned to the station to finish up and say goodbye to Harlan and the rest of the grateful Portland police force. It wasn't until late in the day that they were finally able to return to the hospital to hear the news on Cole and Christina, and to pick up JJ as she had been cleared to leave. As they met Hotchner in the lobby, they were all tired and relieved to be returning home soon.

"What's the status Hotch?" Morgan asked as they approached.

"JJ's bruised and a little beat up, but she'll be ok. She can return home with us whenever we leave."

"Did you get the story from her about what happened?" Reid asked curiously.

"I did." He said simply.

"And…?" Prentiss pressed.

"What we discussed is between me and her. I'll let her tell you the details about what happened, but she'll be ok."

"She's not in too much trouble is she?" Rossi asked, knowing all too well about how these things tended to turn out.

"She might face some minor disciplinary action for some of her decisions, but like I said, she's accepted them and she'll be ok, she's tough as we all know." Hotchner conceded.

"What about Christina and Cole?" Morgan asked.

"Christina is still in surgery; she was beaten pretty bad and has a few broken bones. She may have pneumonia as well. The doctors are very positive about her future prospects although they won't tell me too much for obvious reasons."

"And Cole?" Reid asked.

"The gunshot wound wasn't far from his heart so he lost a lot of blood, he just came out a little while ago and is resting, he should pull through too."

"That's great news, a success overall." Rossi said as Prentiss grunted.

"I still can't help but to feel Cole had something to do with him and JJ getting into the situation she was in." Prentiss said, still not trusting the man.

"Perhaps, but I debriefed JJ and she took full responsibility. Like I said I won't get into details, but the good news is it looks like all three of them are going to be ok eventually."

"So Cole didn't kidnap her?" Prentiss pressed.

"It doesn't appear that way, no." Hotchner answered.

Emily shook her head, still not entirely believing it. She was glad JJ was ok, but she remembered what she had seen at the precinct. Maybe it was just her lack of an overall trust in men, but she couldn't help but feel that Cole had used JJ and it had helped result in their near deaths. She wouldn't know for sure until she had spoken with JJ and they went over the details of what happened, but to Emily she felt like something was missing and that Hotch was simply accepting JJ's story too easily. Cole was a lucky man, she supposed.

"So when do we get to go home?" Morgan asked, the tiredness in his voice evident.

"You guys can start heading to the tarmac now, I'm just waiting for JJ and then we'll meet you there."

"Where is she?" Reid asked.

"She wanted to check up on Christina and Cole. Unfortunately Christina is still being attended to and can't have visitors, but she's having a quick talk with Cole. I'll go get her in a few minutes."

The others nodded.

"Ok, see you on the plane then." Rossi said as he led them away.

Hotchner sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby. He looked at his watch, deciding to give JJ five more minutes until he went and got her.

/

JJ walked into Cole's hospital room, happy to find that he was awake. As soon as he saw her enter his eyes brightened visibly.

"Hey, you made it." He said quietly as JJ chuckled.

"I think I should be the one saying that about you." She smiled, sitting gingerly next to his bed.

"Are you ok? You don't look so good." he winced as he took in her appearance.

JJ's hair hung in front of her face, hiding some of the bruises, but there was still a good amount of discoloration and some swelling, especially around her jaw where she had been punched.

"I'm fine, just a bunch of bruises that'll heal. I won't need to work out for a while either after that course." She tried to joke as she sniffled.

"Is that all? You sound sick."

"I might be coming down with a cold, but I'll live." JJ shrugged before blowing her nose.

"The better question is how you feel?" she asked.

"I feel weak, but I'm happy to be alive. I don't know what I was thinking to run away like that."

"You weren't." JJ said more evenly.

"You're right I wasn't. I just panicked when I thought he had killed Christina when we were so close…how is she?" he asked fearfully, having still not heard much.

"She's still in surgery but they expect her to pull through. She took quite a beating and it'll take some time to recover. At least Aiden should have his mommy back, and you, your sister." JJ smiled warmly.

"That's great." Cole's face brightened. "I know Aiden will be ecstatic, even if he has to go easy around her for a while."

"You'll have to take it easy too." JJ reminded him.

Cole nodded.

"I know, I'm just glad everything worked out, at least, compared to the alternative." He said as JJ nodded her agreement.

His eyes focused on her, staring more intently.

"Thank you Jennifer, for everything. I know I put you through a lot and that I'm not always the easiest person to deal with."

"You're welcome." JJ said simply.

Cole reached over and grabbed her hand, holding it gently.

"No, I mean it. I put you through a lot and almost got us both killed. I did a lot of stupid stuff and it really almost hurt you." Cole said, trying to get her to understand what he had done, that he mostly meant his apology, without divulging everything he had truly done to her.

He couldn't admit to her that he drugged her. If he did, she would leave for good and she probably would have him brought up on charges. That wasn't a risk he was going to take; especially if he still had a chance with her. To Cole, there was not enough to gain and too much to lose if he were to be fully truthful with her.

"Cole, I understand. I'll admit you weren't the easiest person for me to deal with, one of the hardest actually. But we pulled through. I'm ok, you're ok and you have your sister back. We all came through this thing, now we just have to focus on getting on with our lives." She consoled him, even if she didn't completely comprehend all that had happened between them.

"I know, I just…I put you in a very tough position, an unfair one really." He said, his eyes taking in how beautiful she was even all bruised and battered.

JJ felt his eyes and blushed a little.

"We're fine Cole. Everything is ok. What's past is past. I don't know if I would've attempted pulling a gun on someone if I were untrained and in your shoes, but I would've done a lot of the same things, put in your position."

"I deserve to be brought up on charges." He said, looking away from her, knowing she didn't realize just how much truth that statement held.

"You do, maybe, but you won't. I made a choice…"

"I didn't really give you much of one." He cut in.

"Maybe, but I still made a decision and now we're all living with it, things worked out overall."

Cole nodded as he turned back to her, accepting her words.

"So now what?"

"What do you mean?" JJ asked back, confused.

"I mean, between us?"

JJ paused, a little unsure of what to say.

"I, uh…I don't know. I live across the country with crazy work hours. It's hard enough to keep a short distance relationship with my job." She stuttered a little.

"I really do like you, Jennifer. I would love to pick up where we left off." He smiled, saying her name _just so_ as he had done before.

JJ felt her face turn pink.

"I…I wouldn't mind seeing where things would head, but it just doesn't seem possible." She tried.

Cole frowned a little; although he knew what she said was true. After a moment of silence JJ spoke.

"I'll tell you what, here's my number. If you're ever near D.C. look me up and give me a call." She said as she pulled out her card and handed it to him.

Cole looked over her card and smiled.

"Maybe I'll have to take a vacation sometime soon."

JJ chuckled.

"Maybe you will."

"You can show me around town since I've never been and we can maybe finish what we started." He winked at her, causing JJ to get butterflies.

"We'll see." She smiled awkwardly.

Another moment passed and JJ realized that it was time for her to go. She stood, her hair falling over her face as she leaned in and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"Goodbye Cole, stay in touch." She said as she pulled away and he released her hand.

"Goodbye Jennifer, see you soon, maybe." He smiled, watching as she smiled back and slowly walked out of the room.

Cole turned his head, looking out the window as the last rays of sun splashed in. As his tired body slowly drifted to sleep, his thoughts were happily focused on how he had his family back together, and how he might see Jennifer again soon, someday.

**AN: Well there you have it! I hope you all enjoyed and a special thanks to all of you who reviewed! I know it might not wrap up everything entirely in a nice bow, but my goal was to show that although Cole was a caring person, he also had some moral issues. Hence why he did some of the things he did and why he didn't confess everything to JJ. Someone pm'd me that they hoped Cole and JJ would hook up. That really wasn't my intention and I feel as it is this story turned more JJ/OC than I had meant for it to. So, I decided to leave open the possibility that they would eventually meet again someday. If you loyal readers REALLY want to see something like that, then maybe I'll do a one-shot sequel where that happens. Personally, I'm pretty happy with how it is now. Thank you again, and be on the lookout for some more JJ, JJ/Reid stories coming soon!**


	22. Author's Note

**AN: Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know, that after popular demand I have written and posted the JJ & Cole hook-up sequel that so many of you requested. It is rated 'M', and titled "Desperate Times: One Night". I hope you all enjoy it and I would love your feedback! Thanks!**


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